HR Manager Salary Calculator

1. Choose annual salary or hourly rate, then enter your gross pay before tax.
2. Set your hours per week and paid weeks per year. Blank fields count as 40 hours and 52 weeks, the 2,080-hour year that BLS uses.
3. Add a second offer in the same pay type to compare it. Read the band, the approximate percentile and the gap to the median.

The HR manager salary calculator is a tool that shows where a human resources manager's pay falls on the national BLS wage scale. It also restates that pay per month, per two weeks, per week and per hour.

BLS classifies human resources managers under SOC code 11-3121. They plan, coordinate and direct the administrative functions of an organization. They oversee recruiting, interviewing and hiring, consult with top executives on strategic planning, and link management with employees.

The code is narrower than the job title suggests. It excludes managers who focus mainly on compensation and benefits, and managers who focus on training and development. BLS counts those in separate codes. HR specialists and generalists without a management role are also outside it.

The calculator makes no guess from company size, industry or certification. BLS publishes no pay factor for those, so the result rests on two things only: your pay and the official percentiles.

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates for human resources managers (SOC 11-3121), May 2025, read on 2026-10-02. Employment: 220,660 wage and salary jobs. BLS publishes every figure in this table in full; none is top-coded.

The median HR manager earns $149,280, about 2.9 times the $50,980 median for all US occupations. The 10th percentile is $88,200 and the 90th is $267,810, a ratio of about 3.0.

The middle half of the occupation spans $88,180, from $111,110 to $199,290. The mean, $164,230, is $14,950 above the median because pay at the top stretches far.

Industries with the Most HR Manager Jobs

The industry called management of companies and enterprises employs 33,150 HR managers. That is about 15% of the 220,660 jobs surveyed.

Industries with the Highest Mean HR Manager Wage

These five industries top the BLS list by mean wage. Several employ few HR managers, so treat them as the upper edge and not the norm.

The calculator converts your pay to an hourly figure, then places it between the hourly wage points BLS publishes for human resources managers.

1. It finds annual pay. A salary stays as entered. An hourly rate is multiplied by your hours and weeks.
2. It divides annual pay by 12, 26 and 52 for monthly, biweekly and weekly pay.
3. It finds hourly pay. A salary is divided by the hours you work in a year.
4. It finds the two BLS hourly wage points on each side of your hourly pay. W1 and W2 are those wages, and P1 and P2 are their percentiles.
5. It estimates your percentile on a straight line between the two points, and subtracts the median to get the gap.

The comparison runs on hourly pay for a reason. BLS annual wages are hourly wages times 2,080 hours, so an hourly match treats part-time and long-hour schedules fairly.

A salary of $174,000 for 40 hours a week shows the method. It is $83.65 an hour, between the median of $71.77 and the 75th percentile of $95.81. The estimate is 50 + (83.65 - 71.77) / (95.81 - 71.77) x 25 = 62.4, so about the 62nd percentile.

Example values only. An HR manager earns $128,000 a year and works about 45 hours a week. A recruiter calls with an offer of $150,000.

The salary is $21,280 a year under the national median. The long week widens the gap: at 45 hours the pay is $54.70 an hour, about the 27th percentile, against the 36th on a 40-hour week. The $150,000 offer reaches about the 40th percentile at 45 hours and the 50th at 40 hours.

Industry

BLS median pay for HR managers is $170,590 in professional, scientific and technical services and $126,900 in healthcare and social assistance. That is a $43,690 spread between two large employers.

State

New York has the highest state mean at $197,390, which is $33,160 above the national mean. Massachusetts follows at $195,110, then California at $191,920, the District of Columbia at $187,830 and New Jersey at $186,360.

Scope of the Role

BLS notes that HR managers must have related work experience, and typical entry needs 5 years or more. A first-time manager and a department head share this one code, so the percentiles cover both.

Hours

Most HR managers work full time, and some work more than 40 hours a week. A salary does not rise with those hours, so the hourly figure falls.

Certification

BLS describes certification as voluntary and says it may enhance job opportunities. It reports no wage figure for certified managers, and this page adds none.

HR managers earn close to the median for operations specialties managers, the BLS group they belong to, and far above the all-occupation median.

The gap to operations specialties managers is $1,410. BLS also reports the median in the industries that employ the most HR managers.

Each figure above is a median, the middle value of a group. The guide to percentiles and quartiles explains how the 25th and 75th points frame the middle half.

HR managers typically need a bachelor's degree plus several years of related work, and BLS projects faster-than-average growth.

The degree may be in human resources or another field, such as business, communications or psychology. Some jobs require a master's degree in human resources, labor relations or business administration. Many managers start as human resources specialists or labor relations specialists.

BLS expects strong demand as organizations focus on employee engagement, management and retention.

Weighing a Promotion

A move from specialist to manager changes your BLS code. Compare the new salary with this page, not with specialist pay. The guide on raise vs promotion covers the trade-off.

Answering a Recruiter

Enter the quoted figure as a second offer. You see the change in dollars and percent, and the band it lands in.

Setting a Pay Band for a Vacancy

The 25th and 75th percentiles, $111,110 and $199,290, give a national reference for the middle half of the role.

Checking the Hourly Value of a Salary

Enter your real weekly hours. For bonus pay, which BLS wages exclude, use the bonus calculator.

1. Using the HR Specialist Figure

Specialists and managers are different BLS occupations. A manager compared with specialist data looks overpaid, and the reverse looks underpaid.

2. Treating Total Compensation as Wages

BLS wages leave out year-end bonuses, stock and benefits. Enter base salary only, or the comparison runs high.

3. Assuming Small-Firm and Corporate Roles Match

The percentiles blend every employer size. BLS gives no size breakdown, so the tool cannot adjust for it.

4. Quoting the Top Industry as the Market

A $247,780 mean in inland water transportation covers a small number of jobs. The all-industry mean is $164,230.

5. Ignoring Long Weeks

At 45 hours, a $128,000 salary is $54.70 an hour, not $61.54.

The conversions are exact arithmetic on your numbers. The percentile is an estimate, because BLS publishes five wage points and not the full curve.

This is an estimate built on BLS survey data. It is not a pay offer, and it is not career or financial advice. Every figure is gross, and this page does not estimate tax. The guide to gross vs net income explains what comes off before take-home pay.

The BLS median for human resources managers was $149,280 a year in May 2025, or $71.77 an hour.

BLS reports a 10th percentile of $88,200 and a 90th percentile of $267,810. The middle half earn between $111,110 and $199,290.

Among large employers, professional, scientific and technical services has the highest median at $170,590. By mean wage, inland water transportation leads at $247,780.

By BLS annual mean wage, New York leads at $197,390, followed by Massachusetts at $195,110 and California at $191,920.

On a 40-hour week it is about the 36th percentile nationally, $21,280 a year below the median. Your state and industry decide whether that is low for your market.

BLS lists 5 years or more of work experience in a related occupation, on top of a bachelor's degree.

BLS says certification is voluntary and may enhance job opportunities. It publishes no wage premium, so this page gives none.

Divide the salary by your hours in a year. At 2,080 hours, $149,280 equals $71.77 an hour, the BLS median hourly wage.

No. BLS counts managers who focus mainly on compensation and benefits, or on training and development, under separate occupation codes.

The wages are the BLS May 2025 estimates, the latest release. They were read on 2026-10-02.

• BLS OEWS Profiles: Human Resources Managers (SOC 11-3121) (US Bureau of Labor Statistics; May 2025 national employment, mean wage and percentile wages. Choose May 2025, then the occupation. Read 2026-10-02.)
• Occupational Outlook Handbook: Human Resources Managers (US Bureau of Labor Statistics; duties, entry education, median pay and the 2025 to 2035 outlook. Read 2026-10-02.)
• OEWS Frequently Asked Questions (US Bureau of Labor Statistics; what counts as wages, who is surveyed, and the 2,080-hour year.)
• OEWS Data Tables (US Bureau of Labor Statistics; the May 2025 release and earlier years. Page last modified May 15, 2026.)