If you’re an HR Manager, or interested in becoming one, it’s important that you know exactly how much you can expect to make in your career.

Thanks to the internet, information about salaries has never been more transparent. Rather than just accepting the first offer that comes your way, use these data points to feel empowered about negotiating your salary with an employer or work to get a job in Human Resources.

Salary ranges for HR Managers can vary greatly throughout the United States based on a number of factors.

While the average HR Manager salary is $76k based on Glassdoor data, the median average salary according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics is $113k. This discrepancy could be due to the varying definitions of the HR Manager role. Let’s dive deeper into the data and see where the differences exist for these salary ranges.

HR Manager salary levels

When compiling this data, two major data sources were considered: Glassdoor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The first is compiled of user-submitted salary data (roughly 20,000 submissions for this role) while the latter source contains data collected from the U.S. Department of Labor.

In addition to the differences in data collection, there are a number of other factors that can affect what you should expect in a salary as an HR Manager.

Factors that affect salary

The major factors that can affect what salary you should expect as an HR Manager are city, industry, and company size. These data points should help you benchmark what your own salary in this industry should be, but are not absolutes.

By city

The data pulled on a per-city basis was determined through the top 15 metropolitan areas in the US via Glassdoor information. Generally, HR Managers in larger cities are paid more than in smaller cities. The average salary for these top 15 cities is $81,292.

Out of these cities, the highest paying is San Francisco. This is likely due to the high cost of living and the number of large tech companies in the Bay Area. On the low end of the spectrum is Miami, Phoenix, and Detroit. These are smaller cities that are growing quickly, but have lower living costs than some other metropolitan areas around the country.

By industry

HR managers are not a role unique to any one industry. This explains why there can be a large amount of variance between industry for this role. The range between these 15 industries is roughly $60,000-$80,000.

Certain industries like biotech, telecommunications, and tech generally pay higher salaries to their employees, so it’s no surprise they are at the higher end of the salary range.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in addition to this information, the lowest 10% of HR Managers earned less than $66,870, and the highest 10% earned more than $201,380.

By business size

The size of a company has a lot to do with how much HR Managers are paid as well. HR Managers are often responsible for the company’s HR functions as a whole, or at least a team of HR specialists at larger companies. Business size can affect salary not just for HR managers, but lots of other roles as well.

Not surprisingly, HR managers at larger companies can expect a higher salary.

How to make more money as an HR Manager

Whether you’re interviewing for a new job or coming up on a performance review, it’s good to arm yourself with information to help you increase your salary. Coming to the negotiating table with an advanced degree or HR certification can allow you to even further negotiate a higher salary for yourself.

It’s also important that you have a strong understanding of HR Management Suites as you will likely be using them in your day-to-day role. Being familiar with these types of software can make you a more valuable employee and increase your chances of earning a higher salary.