I love sharing data you won’t find elsewhere, so I’m excited to publish exclusive, in-depth salary benchmarks for product managers in the U.S., Europe, and Canada.
This data is courtesy of Pave, which gets its data by integrating with human resources information system (HRIS) software and equity management systems at over 7,500 top companies to build real-time compensation benchmarks. The data below is based on actual comp from over 23,000 product managers globally, plus a few select data points from Levels.fyi.
Below, you’ll find:
1. Base salary, equity, and total comp for product managers in the U.S. 2. How U.S. comp compares to Europe, Canada, and Tier 2 and Tier 3 U.S. cities 3. A deeper look at Europe and U.K. compensation
Key takeaways
1. The median starting base salary for a PM in the U.S. is $112,000 at a public company and $96,000 at a private company. 2. A 90th-percentile senior individual-contributor (IC) PM can hit $350,000 in base salary and close to $1,000,000 in total comp. 3. New PM managers make less than senior ICs—$265,000 vs. $425,000 in total comp, respectively. 4. Moving from a Tier 3 U.S. city to a Tier 1 city can increase your salary by 20%. 5. The median chief product officer makes $1,425,000 in total comp, and the 90th percentile makes nearly $5,000,000. 6. The biggest salary jump happens going from L4 to L5 and M3 to M4. 7. PM base salaries are 15% to 20% lower at private companies vs. public companies. They are over 25% lower for product execs (E7-E9). 8. U.K. PMs make 65% of what the average U.S. PM makes, and the average European PM makes less than 50% of the average U.S. PM. 9. If you want to maximize your base salary (i.e. stability), join a public company in a Tier 1 U.S. city. 10. If you want to maximize your upside, get into a senior IC or manager role at a private company in the U.S.
First, an explanation of the levels you’ll see in the charts below
Here’s how the 12 levels you’ll find below map to seniority:
- P1 → Entry
- P2-P3 → Mid
- P4-P6→ Senior
- M3-M4 → Manager
- M5-M6 → Director
- E8 → VP
- E9 → CPO
And here’s how these levels map to titles at a typical company, including where IC and manager tracks overlap:
For more, [check out this detailed explanation of levels](https://support.pave.com/hc/en-us/articles/4430985339799-Job-Levels) and how they may map to your organization.
Product management compensation in the U.S.
Here are the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles for total comp for product managers in the U.S.:
#### Top takeaways
1. The median starting total comp for a PM in the U.S. is $139,000. 2. 90th-percentile IC PMs make close to $1,000,000 in total comp. 3. New managers make less than senior ICs. The median new manager makes $265,000 in total comp per year—equivalent to an L4 IC PM. You have to hit M5 to make more than the most senior median IC PM. 4. The median chief product officer makes $1,425,000 in total comp, and the 90th percentile makes nearly $5,000,000. 5. The median VP of product makes $707,000 in total comp, and the 90th percentile makes over $2,000,000. 6. The biggest salary jump happens going from L4 to L5 and M3 to M4. And then from VP to CPO. 7. At [Meta](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/facebook/salaries/product-manager?country=254) (the highest comp of the Magnificent 7), the average M6 makes over $2,000,000 in total comp, and an entry-level (non-associate product manager, or APM) PM makes $232,000 in total comp.
A deeper look at salary and equity
Here’s the same data as above but splitting base salary and equity and comparing public and private company comp:
#### Top takeaways
1. The median starting base salary for a PM in the U.S. is $112,000 at a public company and $96,000 at a private company. 2. A 90th-percentile IC PM at a public company can hit $350,000 in base salary. 3. PM base salaries are 15% to 20% lower at private companies vs. public companies. They are over 25% lower for product execs (E7-E9). 4. Unsurprisingly, lower base salaries at private companies are made up for by more equity, especially when things go well. 90th-percentile IC PMs at private companies earn nearly $600,000 in equity/year (vs. $250,000 at public companies), and 90th-percentile PM managers (M6) earn around $1,000,000/year in equity (vs. less than $500,000 at public companies). 5. The amount of equity 90th-percentile PMs can earn grows very quickly as they rise in the ranks. For example, at a private company, a 90th-percentile M3 earns just over $200,000 in equity, an M4 earns $500,000, an M5 earns $800,000, and an M6 earns $1,000,000. 6. At Tesla, [Microsoft](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/microsoft/salaries/product-manager?country=254), Nvidia, [Apple](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/apple/salaries/product-manager?country=254), Meta, [Google](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/google/salaries/product-manager?country=254), and [Netflix](https://www.levels.fyi/companies/netflix/salaries/product-manager?country=254) (the Magnificent 7), the starting base salary for a (non-APM) PM is $136,000, $156,000, $158,000, $158,000, $167,000, $199,000, and $343,000, respectively. Netflix and Tesla are low on equity, while Meta, Google, and Nvidia are quite high.
Comparing Tiers 1, 2, and 3 U.S cities to U.K., Canada, and Europe broadly
Now let’s look at how other parts of the world compare to the U.S.’s average PM compensation.
Base salary differentials relative to U.S. average
#### Top takeaways
1. Tier 1 U.S. PMs make 10% more than the average U.S. PM. 2. U.K. PMs make 65% of what the average U.S. PM makes, Canadian PMs make 60%, and the average European PM makes less than 50%. 3. Moving from a Tier 3 U.S. city to a Tier 1 city can increase your salary by 20%. 4. The average PM in a Tier 3 U.S. city makes more than the average PM in Europe or Canada.
Deeper look at Europe and U.K. cash compensation vs. U.S.
#### Top takeaways
1. If you’re a PM in Europe, you want to be in the U.K. or Ireland. 2. Sorry, PMs in Bulgaria.
Equity differentials relative to the U.S. average
#### Top takeaways
1. PMs in Tier 1 U.S. cities make 40% more from their equity than in Tier 2 and 3 cities. 2. PMs in Tier 2 and 3 cities make about the same in terms of equity. 3. Living in Europe, you make 40% of what U.S. PMs make from equity.
See anything else interesting in this data? Share it in the comments!
Next in this series, I’m going to do an analysis of salary and equity benchmarks for founder compensation. Stay tuned!
Thank you, [Pave](https://www.pave.com/), for providing this data, [Ben](https://www.linkedin.com/in/benhawkins0/) for design, [Rebecca](https://www.rebeccaackermann.com/) for editing, and Ricardo and Dennis for providing feedback on early drafts. Have a fulfilling and productive week 🙏
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