What are the top jobs in facility management? Facilities management job titles can vary as widely as a facilities manager’s responsibilities (for that topic, see What Does a Facility Manager Manage?). Perhaps that’s why the salary of a career in facility management can range from $56,689 at the 10th percentile to $105,056 at the 90th percentile with a median of $80,780, according to salary.com.[1]
Facility manager salaries differ depending on the amount of square footage managed, the size of the organization’s facility budget, and the building type, which includes manufacturing, healthcare, education, office, or retail.
Salary will also depend on the nature of the specific facilities management occupation. BUILDINGS readers report that their departments account for the following areas:
- 67% – construction/project management;
- 65% – facility management;
- 51% – energy management;
- 47% – design/space planning;
- 31% – staff engineering;
- 26% – staff architecture.
Facility managers could be responsible for fire and life safety issues, indoor air quality (IAQ), sustainable operations, energy metering, HVAC system maintenance, lighting upgrades, reducing maintenance costs, or retrofits and renovation.
Backgrounds and specialties also vary widely. Schooling is an important component that helps determine what facility professionals earn. More than one-third of BUILDINGS readers have graduate degrees, and more than two-thirds have post-secondary education.
Even the types of degrees facilities management professionals have earned differs. BUILDINGS readers report educational background in the following areas:
- 33% – engineering;
- 29% – business;
- 23% – architecture.
Facilities professionals with backgrounds in business or accounting tend to be among the most successful, but to get a better gauge on the best jobs in FM, it is helpful to divide occupations by title and type. The following are the top five job categories in the facility management industry.
[1]All data from salary.com, which uses Certified Compensation Professionals’ analysis of survey data collected from thousands of HR departments at employers of all sizes, industries, and geographies, as of January 2013.