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Data

Manager Wages

Why It Matters

Almost every main-street business is priced on SDE, which adds the owner's pay back into earnings. That arithmetic holds only if the buyer intends to do the owner's job. Plan to hire someone to run the place instead and the market wage for that role comes straight back out of the earnings, and at a typical multiple it takes several times its own size out of what the business is worth to you. These are the wages that subtraction uses, for 2025.

General Manager

$105,770

Median annual pay, the default owner-replacement role.

Highest Paid Role

$175,140

Computer and information systems managers, median.

Lowest Paid Role

$48,520

First-line supervisors of retail sales workers, median.

By Role

Sorted by median pay. The median is the middle of the range and the safer number to budget with; the mean sits higher because the top of each occupation pulls it up. Employment shows how common the role is, which is a rough read on how easily you will fill it.

25 of 25
Annual pay for the roles that replace an owner, national, all industries
The technology manager who owns deliveryComputer and information systems managers (11-3021)$175,140$192,160671K
The pharmacist the license requires on sitePharmacists (29-1051)$140,910$140,920322K
The administrator of a clinic or care facilityMedical and health services managers (11-9111)$123,860$140,970597K
The manager who runs projects and crewsConstruction managers (11-9021)$114,990$124,360380K
The manager who runs a fleet or a facilityTransportation, storage, and distribution managers (11-3071)$107,230$121,600221K
The general manager who runs the whole businessGeneral and operations managers (11-1021)$105,770$134,9403.50M
The lead who runs the trade crewsFirst-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (47-1011)$93,500$97,82080K
The lead who runs the trade crewsFirst-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (47-1011)$93,320$96,56061K
The program director who runs the day and its staffSocial and community service managers (11-9151)$80,390$88,880209K
The lead who runs the trade crewsFirst-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (47-1011)$79,920$86,450812K
The shop foreman over techniciansFirst-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers (49-1011)$79,860$85,220618K
The funeral home managerFuneral home managers (11-9171)$78,790$92,84014K
The plant supervisor over the machines and the crewFirst-line supervisors of production and operating workers (51-1011)$74,450$76,600673K
The manager who runs the site, the tenants, and the rulesProperty, real estate, and community association managers (11-9141)$69,990$83,710311K
The office manager who runs the back officeFirst-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers (43-1011)$69,500$73,4901.44M
The salaried manager who runs the operationFood service managers (11-9051)$69,390$74,880238K
The manager who runs the property and the front deskLodging managers (11-9081)$69,250$78,74043K
The lead who runs the trade crewsFirst-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (47-1011)$63,780$71,31014K
The dispatcher-supervisor over drivers and routesFirst-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers (53-1047)$62,890$66,860624K
The center director the license requiresEducation and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare (11-9031)$59,300$64,80074K
The crew leader over grounds and exterior workFirst-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers (37-1012)$58,430$60,960131K
The supervisor over guards and postsFirst-line supervisors of security workers (33-1091)$55,940$59,90081K
The supervisor over cleaning crewsFirst-line supervisors of housekeeping and janitorial workers (37-1011)$49,100$53,320179K
The manager of a personal-service floorFirst-line supervisors of personal service workers (39-1022)$48,590$52,360114K
The store managerFirst-line supervisors of retail sales workers (41-1011)$48,520$53,3801.12M

What It Does to a Valuation

The subtraction is worth doing before an offer, not after. A business showing $1,400,000 of SDE, priced at 3x, is a $4,200,000 asking price. Hire a general manager at the median $105,770 and the earnings a buyer actually keeps fall to $1,294,230, which at the same multiple supports $3,882,690. The wage costs $105,770 a year and about $317,310 of price.

This is also the honest version of a passive-income pitch. A listing that calls itself owner-absent while the seller works in it every day is quoting earnings that include the seller's unpaid labor, and the gap between the two numbers above is what that costs. Lenders make the same adjustment: an underwriter reads debt service against earnings net of a market wage for whoever will actually run the business. Run it against your own deal in the Business Valuation Calculator and the Underwrite a Deal tool.

Guides for These Roles

Each role prices a specific set of trades. These guides carry the rest: what the business is worth, what to verify, and how to finance it.

How to Read It

These are national figures across all industries, which is the honest limit of them. The same job pays differently in a metro than in a rural county, and differently in a machine shop than in a salon. Treat a row as the baseline a lender will recognize, then adjust to your local market rather than reading it as a quote. Note also that a wage is not the full cost of a hire. Payroll taxes, insurance, and benefits sit on top. A working owner often covers more than one of these roles at once, so replacing yourself can mean two salaries rather than one. For the other angle on labor cost, the Industry Economics page carries payroll per employee from Census, which is a wage bill divided by headcount and not a salary for any one role. And Industry Jobs & Pay carries average weekly earnings across every role in a trade.

Method & Source

Annual median and mean wages and employment come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics national estimates for 2025, all industries combined. Each row is one Standard Occupational Classification code, chosen because it is the role a buyer would hire to replace an owner in the trades this site covers. OEWS publishes once a year, so these move annually rather than monthly.