post

Footer About

Footer Contribute

Footer Get Involved

Footer Links

Mind the Product

Product Management

Sunday Rewind: Whose job is it anyway? The rise of Product Ops and why it deserves to be an independent function

Guest Post

Creating metrics that matter

B2B product management

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML)

Building Product Teams

Business Strategy

Data Driven Product Management

Digital Transformation

Diversity and Inclusion

Minimum Viable Product

OKRs

Prioritisation

Product Design

Product Research

Product Development Process

Product Ethics

Product Discovery

Product Leadership

Product Management Career

Product Strategy

Stakeholder Management

🌎 <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/world-product-day/" style="color:#FFFFFF;text-decoration:underline;">Happy World Product Day!</a> Be sure to celebrate product, yourself, and your peers today! 🎉

How much are product managers getting paid in 2024?

Leading product ops at Delivery Hero with Koen Dubelaar

Connecting fans to creators at Spotify (Dariusz Dziuk, Product Lead, Spotify)

“You’re not as competent as you think” 5 lessons from Ken Chin on navigating a product career (CPO, Spark Networks)

Everything wrong with the product management job market. And how to fix it

Co-founder of <a href="http://www.prodpad.com">ProdPad</a> and Mind the Product who run ProductTank, ProductCamp London and Mind the Product conferences in London and San Francisco. Blogs about Product Management at MindTheProduct.com &amp; ProdPad.com. Simon began his career in Space Engineering, where he developed a Fortran realtime program to automate satellite operations. He then traveled around the world before a stint in the Australian Army.

Simon Cast

The purpose of this survey is to get a snapshot of working product managers and to provide some corresponding statistics as we build out the community. It&#8217;s also designed to give you a better understanding of where you stand professionally within the community.
I&#8217;ve attempted to present as much data as possible in charts, but there is the odd table.
(Part 2 is available <a title="Product Manager Survey Results: Part 2 - UK Salaries" href="mindtheproduct.com/product-manager-survey-results-part-2-uk-salaries/">here</a>. Part 3 is available <a title="Product Manager Survey Results: Part 3 – US and UK comparison" href="http://mindtheproduct.com/product-manager-survey-results-part-3-us-and-uk-comparison/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>)
<h1>Who are we?</h1>
Overall we had a total of 290 responses of which I removed two as they seemed unusual enough to skew the results. Of those responses 78% were male and 22% were female.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/gender_breakdown_pie.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-2487" title="gender_breakdown_pie" alt="Chart of gender breakdown in responses" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/gender_breakdown_pie.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/gender_breakdown_pie.png 890w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/gender_breakdown_pie-300x200.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a>
In general, their backgrounds are in science/engineering and the arts, rather than business.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/degree_areas_Pie.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2486" title="degree_areas_Pie" alt="Chart of degree majors" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/degree_areas_Pie.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/degree_areas_Pie.png 889w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/degree_areas_Pie-300x200.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a> 
Some 81% have at least a bachelor&#8217;s degree, 38% have a master&#8217;s degree and 7% have no degree at all. Only one respondent reported having a PhD.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/product-manager-survey-results-part-1-overall/degree_levels/" rel="attachment wp-att-2541"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2541" alt="Degree Levels" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/degree_levels.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/degree_levels.png 889w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/degree_levels-300x200.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a> 
There is an average of 4.7 years of experience in product management.
Respondents were from a range of regions. Not surprisingly, the UK was first, followed by the US and then the rest of Europe.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/country_response_pie.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2488" title="country_response_pie" alt="Chart of respondents by region" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/country_response_pie.png" width="570" height="380" /></a>
In terms of job titles nearly 50% of respondents said their title is &#8216;product manager&#8217;, followed by 21% who are &#8216;senior product managers&#8217;.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/product-manager-survey-results-part-1-overall/title_responses/" rel="attachment wp-att-2543"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2543" alt="title_responses" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/title_responses.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/title_responses.png 889w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/title_responses-300x200.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a>
On average, there are about six developers to every product manager with about 25% of the companies surveyed having 10 or more developers per product manager. There is a heavy concentration of companies with between three to 10 developers per product manager with five developers to every product manager being the most popular ratio.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/product-manager-survey-results-part-1-overall/overall_distribu_pm_dev/" rel="attachment wp-att-2627"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2627" alt="overall_distribu_pm_dev" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overall_distribu_pm_dev.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overall_distribu_pm_dev.png 1067w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overall_distribu_pm_dev-300x200.png 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overall_distribu_pm_dev-1024x684.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a>
The respondents came from a wide range of company sizes with the smallest possessing just one employee up to the largest having about 120,000 staff. The distribution of company size shows that respondents in general came from companies with between 10 and 50 people. Interestingly, there is a sizeable chunk of companies with between 1,000 and 10,000 people.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/product-manager-survey-results-part-1-overall/distribution_company_size/" rel="attachment wp-att-2542"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2542" alt="Distribution of Company Size" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/distribution_company_size.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/distribution_company_size.png 1066w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/distribution_company_size-300x200.png 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/distribution_company_size-1024x684.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a> 
I&#8217;m not sure whether we simply didn&#8217;t get many responses from product managers at companies sized between 500 and 1,000 people or if there is actually an anomaly with companies in that range not having product managers.
Luckily, 43% say they report direct to the CEO with technology and marketing reporting lines following. Only 2% said they reported into sales, which I can guess is a blessing for everyone else.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/reportlines_pie.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2484" title="reportlines_pie" alt="" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/reportlines_pie.png" width="570" height="380" /></a>
<h1>What are we paid?</h1>
One of the survey goals  was to get at least a sense of remuneration and I think this is probably what interests most people. All of the salaries have been converted to GBP (using the exchange rate December 2012) for comparison. The survey included questions that covered salary as well as equity in an effort to better understand remuneration packages.
Of the people responding 64% said they don&#8217;t receive equity as part of their remuneration, while 36% said they did.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/receiving_equity_pie.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2483" title="receiving_equity_pie" alt="" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/receiving_equity_pie.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/receiving_equity_pie.png 889w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/receiving_equity_pie-300x200.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a>
There are some unexpected results when looking at salaries. The salary breakdown by country is shown in the chart below.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_country.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2481" title="average_salary_by_country" alt="" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_country.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_country.png 1067w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_country-300x200.png 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_country-1024x683.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a> 
This is the average salary that product managers are being paid. Not unexpectedly, US-based product managers are paid roughly £15,000 more than in UK and Canada and about £20,000 more than in Europe and the Rest of the World. Interestingly, through all the regions, product managers with equity earn more than those without equity. In some cases this is significantly more, such as in the US and the Rest of the World. I&#8217;m unsure what is causing this and would be interested in your views.
I&#8217;m sure you are wondering how your salary compares to other product managers with the same job title. The chart below splits the average salary from all respondents by job title.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/product-manager-survey-results-part-1-overall/overall_average_salary_equity/" rel="attachment wp-att-2626"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2626" alt="overall_average_salary_equity" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overall_average_salary_equity.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overall_average_salary_equity.png 1066w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overall_average_salary_equity-300x200.png 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/overall_average_salary_equity-1024x683.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a>
As you can see, as expected, salaries increase in line with different job titles. The chart is slightly distorted by the &#8216;chief product officer&#8217; title, but, for me, the major point of interest is the significant jump between junior product manager and product manager.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/diff_junior_normal.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2480" title="diff_junior_normal" alt="Difference between average for junior and mid level product manager" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/diff_junior_normal.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/diff_junior_normal.png 1067w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/diff_junior_normal-300x200.png 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/diff_junior_normal-1024x683.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a> 
I suspect this is due to many people moving into product management after more experience in other positions, such as developers, marketing, customer service. This pulls up the base salary to account for experience in other positions. Junior product managers, though, have less total work experience and so there is no premium for the existing experience. This is further supported by the product managers having spent 30% of their working life in that role versus about 55% of junior product managers .
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/work_experience_comp_pie.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2490" title="work_experience_comp_pie" alt="" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/work_experience_comp_pie.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/work_experience_comp_pie.png 890w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/work_experience_comp_pie-300x200.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a> 
This may also just reflect demand for product managers, as opposed to junior product managers. If this is true, it does mean that companies need to rapidly increase the salary of juniors or they will quickly leave for product manager roles at other companies. What do you think?
One issue that does show up is the compression of salary between senior and head. Here the difference between the average salaries is only £3,000 compared to approximately £20,000 difference for all the other titles.
<a href="http://mindtheproduct.com/product-manager-survey-results-part-1-overall/average_salary_by_role-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-2544"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2544" alt="Average salary by title" src="http://mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_role1.png" width="570" height="380" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_role1.png 1067w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_role1-300x200.png 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/average_salary_by_role1-1024x684.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" /></a> 
I can see two possible causes for this anomaly. The head of product is a relatively new position created to meet a need for a position between senior product manager and the VP of product. Given the newness, the salaries have not had the time to adjust to create necessary distance between the two positions. It also could reflect the difference between the size of companies, with a senior product manager in a large company equivalent to a head of product in a smaller startup.
I suspect that it is a combination of both and I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised to see larger companies increasingly using head of product as a distinct position between senior product manager and VP of product as product takes on more important focus in various companies.
<h1>Summary</h1>
These are just the overall stats and even now there are some interesting trends. In parts 2 and 3, I&#8217;ll breakdown the data into the UK and US respectively.

core/freeform

What is Product Management?

Interpreting the product Venn Diagram with Matt LeMay and Martin Eriksson

Why Product Management Should not be Responsible for Project Management

20 years of product management in 25 Minutes by Dave Wascha

The Evolution of a Product Manager – Josh McWilliam

Product Management Tools in Everyday Life – Oisin Zimmermann (ProductTank Oslo)

Product Manager Survey Results: Part 1 – Overall

Simon Cast

Read more

Comments