Salary guide, May 2025

Sustainability Manager / Director pay, United States

Manufacturing Headhunters uses the published BLS OEWS figures below. They describe the mapped occupation and area, not an individual offer.

This is what we do all day: recruit manufacturing professionals.

The median annual wage for Managers, All Other in the United States was $141,900 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of workers earned between $102,880 and $186,300.

Broader occupation · SOC 11-9199 Managers, All Other

BLS measures this broader occupation across industries. It does not publish a separate wage for this manufacturing title.

Managers, All Other in U.S.: median $141,900; published 25th to 75th percentile $102,880 to $186,300.

Annual wage percentiles, U.S.
10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
$74,300	$102,880	$141,900	$186,300	$238,270

Managers, All Other in U.S.: median $68.22; published 25th to 75th percentile $49.46 to $89.57.

Hourly wage percentiles, U.S.
10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
$35.72	$49.46	$68.22	$89.57	$114.55

BLS estimated 622,190 workers employed in this occupation in the United States.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. SOC 11-9199 Managers, All Other, U.S.. Official occupation data · Official area tables. Released 2026-05-15.

How does pay compare in the target metros?

Sustainability Manager / Director pay in target metros (May 2025)
Metro	Median	25th to 75th	Employment	Location quotient
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$106,880	$77,590 to $162,530	11,360	1.01
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$117,810	$74,060 to $163,050	5,980	1.03
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$122,930	$78,800 to $168,970	5,610	0.99
Raleigh-Cary, NC	$147,370	$109,470 to $199,760	4,320	1.45
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$169,800	$128,770 to $218,090	34,400	0.91
Northern New Jersey within New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$169,800	$128,770 to $218,090	34,400	0.91
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$139,810	$104,100 to $179,000	19,890	1.23
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$145,370	$109,590 to $189,350	26,170	1.45

Rank every metro for Sustainability Manager / Director

What should you know about pay by manufacturing industry, United States?

Same BLS occupation, national estimates for each manufacturing industry (NAICS) BLS publishes, May 2025. Industry names are BLS labels. Nested NAICS rows overlap; they are not independent samples and must not be added together. Identical source rows repeated at different publication levels appear once.

Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing (NAICS 334000)$192,620
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing (NAICS 336000)$176,980
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing (NAICS 324000)$171,620
Miscellaneous Manufacturing (NAICS 339000)$167,270
Chemical Manufacturing (NAICS 325000)$165,270
Machinery Manufacturing (NAICS 333000)$164,040
Apparel Manufacturing (NAICS 315000)$139,980
Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing (NAICS 335000)$137,370
Primary Metal Manufacturing (NAICS 331000)$132,650
Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing (NAICS 312000)$131,920
Textile Mills (NAICS 313000)$131,000
Paper Manufacturing (NAICS 322000)$130,430
Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing (NAICS 326000)$126,710
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (NAICS 337000)$125,530
Food Manufacturing (NAICS 311000)$125,200

Bars compare up to 15 non-overlapping 3-digit manufacturing subsectors with exact annual medians. More detailed scopes remain in the table, identified by code and publication level.

Sustainability Manager / Director (SOC 11-9199) by manufacturing industry, national, May 2025
NAICS / scope	Industry	Employment	25th	Median	75th
31-33 · sector	Manufacturing	45,220	$121,950	$163,860	$210,040
334000 · 3-digit	Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing	8,700	$155,090	$192,620	$227,550
325000 · 3-digit	Chemical Manufacturing	8,660	$129,320	$165,270	$212,000
336000 · 3-digit	Transportation Equipment Manufacturing	6,440	$137,090	$176,980	$219,630
325400 · 4-digit	Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing	4,770	$138,450	$171,170	$221,790
334500 · 4-digit	Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing	4,570	$163,880	$202,090	$224,530
336400 · 4-digit	Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	4,530	$167,770	$188,440	$222,570
333000 · 3-digit	Machinery Manufacturing	3,830	$116,080	$164,040	$201,640
339000 · 3-digit	Miscellaneous Manufacturing	3,370	$128,490	$167,270	$210,310
3250A1 · 4-digit	Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only)	2,960	$124,090	$155,310	$179,600
3330A1 · 4-digit	Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)	2,960	$115,620	$164,260	$198,400
311000 · 3-digit	Food Manufacturing	2,870	$97,860	$125,200	$164,890
339100 · 4-digit	Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing	2,720	$135,150	$171,160	$214,460
334400 · 4-digit	Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing	2,200	$143,740	$197,920	$236,080
332000 · 3-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing	2,120	$90,490	$117,320	$146,280
324000 · 3-digit	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	1,630	$141,100	$171,620	$215,310
324100 · 4-digit	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	1,630	$141,100	$171,620	$215,310
335000 · 3-digit	Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing	1,540	$107,890	$137,370	$187,400
326000 · 3-digit	Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing	1,360	$99,650	$126,710	$162,030
326100 · 4-digit	Plastics Product Manufacturing	1,090	$100,360	$126,360	$162,480
3320A1 · 4-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)	1,020	$99,590	$124,000	$155,430
334100 · 4-digit	Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing	990	$150,730	$182,630	$238,270
3250A2 · 4-digit	Chemical Manufacturing (3255 and 3256 only)	930	$99,590	$131,710	$167,890
327000 · 3-digit	Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing	850	$83,200	$123,710	$150,850
322000 · 3-digit	Paper Manufacturing	840	$105,200	$130,430	$158,560
336300 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing	800	$106,840	$128,990	$160,970
311900 · 4-digit	Other Food Manufacturing	740	$101,990	$131,170	$181,250
334200 · 4-digit	Communications Equipment Manufacturing	720	$139,720	$173,590	$213,700
3320A2 · 4-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)	670	$91,680	$111,680	$144,110
339900 · 4-digit	Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing	650	$95,050	$125,960	$166,590
312000 · 3-digit	Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing	590	$97,330	$131,920	$169,770
335900 · 4-digit	Other Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing	580	$115,450	$151,670	$206,020
312100 · 4-digit	Beverage Manufacturing	570	$96,640	$129,270	$169,240
335300 · 4-digit	Electrical Equipment Manufacturing	570	$106,820	$135,620	$191,390
336100 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Manufacturing	550	$131,710	$160,440	$213,570
321000 · 3-digit	Wood Product Manufacturing	540	$84,500	$119,800	$152,930
333300 · 4-digit	Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing	520	$123,550	$170,890	$221,010
323000 · 3-digit	Printing and Related Support Activities	510	$69,690	$106,960	$159,540
323100 · 4-digit	Printing and Related Support Activities	510	$69,690	$106,960	$159,540
331000 · 3-digit	Primary Metal Manufacturing	510	$107,120	$132,650	$163,200
311800 · 4-digit	Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing	480	$91,160	$120,870	$139,510
322200 · 4-digit	Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	480	$101,850	$124,640	$147,020
311600 · 4-digit	Animal Slaughtering and Processing	450	$95,980	$113,160	$139,660
337000 · 3-digit	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing	440	$99,860	$125,530	$165,140
3370A1 · 4-digit	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)	410	$98,810	$125,530	$158,230
322100 · 4-digit	Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills	360	$112,240	$137,050	$164,210
311400 · 4-digit	Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing	340	$99,970	$133,680	$172,330
321900 · 4-digit	Other Wood Product Manufacturing	300	$73,350	$105,470	$137,080
332700 · 4-digit	Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing	300	$79,760	$102,390	$130,930
311200 · 4-digit	Grain and Oilseed Milling	280	$99,750	$128,890	$165,510
326200 · 4-digit	Rubber Product Manufacturing	270	$97,030	$127,380	$160,620
336600 · 4-digit	Ship and Boat Building	240	$85,790	$109,190	$163,750
332710 · 5-digit	Machine Shops	220	$76,520	$96,760	$124,990
333600 · 4-digit	Engine, Turbine, and Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing	220	$133,750	$169,090	$201,640
335200 · 4-digit	Household Appliance Manufacturing	220	$100,290	$129,450	$169,210
311500 · 4-digit	Dairy Product Manufacturing	190	$111,990	$134,840	$172,830
334300 · 4-digit	Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing	160	$138,130	$171,770	$214,540
335100 · 4-digit	Electric Lighting Equipment Manufacturing	160	$108,760	$127,680	$167,790
311700 · 4-digit	Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging	150	$72,860	$99,760	$134,120
313000 · 3-digit	Textile Mills	150	$96,420	$131,000	$171,000
311300 · 4-digit	Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing	140	$114,410	$131,090	$170,010
315000 · 3-digit	Apparel Manufacturing	140	$101,070	$139,980	$177,340
333500 · 4-digit	Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing	140	$87,090	$124,710	$168,190
336500 · 4-digit	Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing	140	$133,110	$158,290	$200,480
321200 · 4-digit	Veneer, Plywood, and Engineered Wood Product Manufacturing	130	$97,180	$121,090	$152,710
331300 · 4-digit	Alumina and Aluminum Production and Processing	130	$108,700	$143,670	$179,290
336200 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing	130	$97,010	$125,020	$157,330
315200 · 4-digit	Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	120	$123,170	$143,680	$211,960
332800 · 4-digit	Coating, Engraving, Heat Treating, and Allied Activities	120	$66,940	$83,210	$134,650
314000 · 3-digit	Textile Product Mills	110	$82,890	$109,970	$155,820
331400 · 4-digit	Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Production and Processing	110	$125,790	$143,510	$173,070
311100 · 4-digit	Animal Food Manufacturing	100	$106,360	$136,520	$211,550
321100 · 4-digit	Sawmills and Wood Preservation	100	$118,870	$148,150	$160,000
331200 · 4-digit	Steel Product Manufacturing from Purchased Steel	100	$91,720	$110,770	$147,510
331500 · 4-digit	Foundries	100	$99,080	$122,390	$143,620
313200 · 4-digit	Fabric Mills	80	$107,080	$131,100	$166,190
331100 · 4-digit	Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing	80	$109,100	$126,490	$156,830
332720 · 5-digit	Turned Product and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing	80	$90,760	$130,500	$145,620
314100 · 4-digit	Textile Furnishings Mills	70	$92,680	$133,870	$172,300
336900 · 4-digit	Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing	50	$86,720	$104,190	$128,790
313300 · 4-digit	Textile and Fabric Finishing and Fabric Coating Mills	40	$101,240	$151,640	$202,500
314900 · 4-digit	Other Textile Product Mills	40	$76,350	$99,670	$109,990
313100 · 4-digit	Fiber, Yarn, and Thread Mills	30	$83,170	$96,920	$126,650
334600 · 4-digit	Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media	Not published by BLS	$89,900	$92,330	$144,160

What should you know about manufacturing pay mix?

For Sustainability Manager / Director, clarify the base pay before discussing call-outs, travel or extra shifts. OEWS measures straight-time gross wages, not pure base salary or total compensation. It includes base rate, guaranteed pay, commissions and production bonuses. It excludes overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits.

An attendance bonus is not a production bonus; confirm its purpose and treatment rather than adding every bonus to the BLS figure. Skills-based pay steps affect the base rate when they are part of straight-time pay; BLS does not publish a separate rate for each plant's skill grade. Ask whether a tool allowance is expense reimbursement or wage pay. OEWS does not publish a separate tool-allowance component. Keep these items separate in the offer so the published wage is not mistaken for the whole package.

Pay mix here means how published medians for this one BLS occupation differ across manufacturing industries and against the all-industry median. It does not split pay into base, incentive or overtime. BLS wages are straight-time gross pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials and nonproduction bonuses.

What should you know about two BLS releases?

Sustainability Manager / Director in the United States, annual wages, May 2024 and May 2025
Release period	25th	Median	75th
May 2024	$100,010	$136,550	$179,190
May 2025	$102,880	$141,900	$186,300

These are two separate BLS estimates from different survey panels. The workers and employers behind them differ, so the gap is not like-for-like pay for the same workers and is not a growth rate. We show no percentage change.

Recruiter's read. Qualitative, not BLS data.

What should you know about an interview based on the work?

Build the interview around operational sustainability priorities that plant teams can act on. A practical discussion of a project with a clear boundary for energy, water or material accounting can test judgment without using confidential drawings or customer information. Those limits help establish operational responsibility versus corporate reporting and communications; they are part of competence, not a weakness to talk around.

What should you know about questions?

Wages for the OEWS survey are straight-time, gross pay, exclusive of premium pay. Base rate; cost-of-living allowances; guaranteed pay; hazardous-duty pay; incentive pay, including commissions and production bonuses; and tips are included. Excluded are overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, employer cost for supplementary benefits, and tuition reimbursements.

What is the median pay for a Sustainability Manager / Director?

The median annual wage for Managers, All Other in the United States was $141,900 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of workers earned between $102,880 and $186,300. This is the broader occupation BLS publishes, not a figure for this exact title.

What does the 10th percentile mean here?

10% of workers in this occupation and area earned less than $74,300. 90% earned less than $238,270.

Does this include overtime or bonuses?

Is this the pay for a Sustainability Manager / Director at a plant?

BLS measures this broader occupation across industries. It does not publish a separate wage for this manufacturing title. These are occupation estimates across all industries, not an offer for a particular manufacturing title.

How many people work in this occupation?

BLS estimated 622,190 workers employed in this occupation in the United States.

What should you know about related?

Underlying BLS figures for this role (JSON)

Reading this wage estimate

What does this data mean for your opening?

The national median for the broader category encompassing this role is $141,900, with a $5,350 change from the previous $136,550 baseline. The middle-band width is $83,420, derived from P25 of $102,880 and P75 of $186,300. There are 622,190 jobs within the overarching SOC classification.

As Manufacturing Headhunters observes, these figures are annual wages and omit benefits, stock, and other non-cash compensation. Use these numbers as a gauge for broad management-level positions rather than focused sustainability roles.

In the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area, the median pay reaches $170,980 with a middle-band width of $43,200. New York-Newark-Jersey City reports a median of $169,800 and a much wider middle-band of $89,320. The location quotient in the Washington area is 3.35, which denotes a higher density of such roles than in New York. The discrepancy between the middle-bands suggests different salary structures in these two major metropolitan areas.

Looking at national industry data, Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing shows a median of $192,620. Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing shows $202,090, while Semiconductor manufacturing reflects $197,920. These figures are significantly above the national median, reflecting the value placed on management talent in these specific industries. Remember that these sectors do not separate sustainability duties, meaning these numbers should be balanced against the general scope of the SOC category.

Which pay questions should you settle before hiring?

What does the location quotient reveal about the Washington hub?

The 3.35 location quotient indicates a very high concentration of this broad management occupation compared to the national average. This concentration often correlates with specific regional industrial demands.

How does the middle-band width impact hiring offers?

The wide gap between P25 and P75 highlights that there is no singular 'market' pay. Hiring managers should consider this variance when determining an offer relative to experience.

Does the BLS capture roles strictly working on energy accounting?

No, the broader management category includes various roles beyond sustainability management. The data represents a wide range of administrative and managerial responsibilities within these organizations.