# Sales Managers

US SOC code 11-2022. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/11-2022

Also called: Director of sales, VP of sales, Vice president of sales, Regional sales manager, District sales manager.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **637,080** US sales managers, with median pay of **$148,270** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/OCC1950#codes_section) of **55,000** from 1920, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for sales managers: Conversation intelligence, 2015 to 2023. Conversation intelligence platforms did not reduce sales manager headcount; they changed what a sales manager spent their time on.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 4.5% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=11-2022&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **48.3%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)
- **0.013** estimated probability that the whole occupation could be computerised, over an unspecified number of years. Not a forecast of job losses. [Frey and Osborne, 2013](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf)

### Since the 2013 prediction

In 2013, Frey and Osborne put this job's probability of computerisation at 0.013. BLS counted **352,220** of these jobs in May 2013 and **637,080** in May 2025 (+81%, a change derived by Future History).

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Sales Managers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1908
- Latest US employment: 637,080 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [3]
- Latest US median pay: $148,270 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [10]
- Outlook: +4.5% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [28]

### In other countries

The latest figure each country's statistics agency publishes for this job. Each uses its own occupation definition, survey basis and currency, so the numbers are not directly comparable with each other or with the US figures.

- **Canada** (NOC 60010)
  - Employment, 2020: 76,935. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [5]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021: number of persons with employment income in NOC 60010 Corporate sales managers, Canada, reference year 2020. A recipients basis (anyone with employment income during the year), slightly broader than a point-in-time employed count. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
  - Median pay, 2020: C$107,000. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [13]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021 (Table 98-10-0586): median employment income for NOC 60010 Corporate sales managers, Canada, reference year 2020, full-year full-time workers (the basis comparable to the US OEWS full-time median). Statistics Canada Open Licence.
- **United Kingdom** (UK SOC 1132)
  - Employment, 2025: 216,000. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [6]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14): employee jobs in SOC 1132 Marketing, sales and advertising directors, United Kingdom, 2025 (ASHE "number of jobs", thousands x1000; excludes self-employment). Open Government Licence v3.0.
  - Median pay, 2025: £90,000. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [14]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14.7a): median gross annual pay for all employee jobs in SOC 1132 Marketing, sales and advertising directors, United Kingdom, 2025. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- **Australia** (ANZSCO 1311)
  - Employment, 2025: 159,800. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey [7]. ABS Labour Force Survey (Detailed), table EQ08: employed persons in ANZSCO 1311 Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Managers, national (summed across sex and state/territory), annual average of 4 quarterly estimates.
  - Median pay, 2025: A$139,204. Source: ABS Employee Earnings May 2025 [15]. Annualised (x52) from A$2,677 median weekly earnings. ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025: median pay for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, before tax. Surfaced via the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile.

### All 27 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1920 | 55,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., US Census Bureau [1] |
| 1950 | 175,000 (estimate) | $6,500 (estimate) | Est., US Census Bureau (employment) [1]; Est., US Census Bureau (pay) [8] |
| 1980 | 340,000 (estimate) | $32,000 (estimate) | Est., US Census Bureau (employment) [1]; Est., US Census Bureau / BLS (pay) [8] |
| 2000 | 344,180 | $68,520 | BLS OEWS 2000 [2] |
| 2003 | 314,180 | $80,470 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [3] |
| 2004 | 320,240 | $84,220 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [3] |
| 2005 | 317,970 | $87,580 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [3] |
| 2006 | 307,960 | $91,560 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [3] |
| 2007 | 322,170 | $94,910 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [3] |
| 2008 | 333,910 | $97,260 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [3] |
| 2009 | 328,980 | $96,790 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [3] |
| 2010 | 319,300 | $98,530 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [3] |
| 2011 | 328,230 | $101,640 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [3] |
| 2012 | 344,730 | $105,260 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [3] |
| 2013 | 352,220 | $108,540 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [3] |
| 2014 | 358,920 | $110,660 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [3] |
| 2015 | 364,750 | $113,860 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [3] |
| 2016 | 365,230 | $117,960 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [3] |
| 2017 | 371,410 | $121,060 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [3] |
| 2018 | 379,050 | $124,220 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [3] |
| 2019 | 402,600 | $126,640 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [3] |
| 2020 | 390,170 | $132,290 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [3] |
| 2021 | 453,800 | $127,490 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [3] |
| 2022 | 536,390 | $130,600 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [3] |
| 2023 | n/a | $135,160 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [10] |
| 2024 | 603,710 | $138,060 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [3] |
| 2025 | 637,080 | $148,270 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [3] |

## Sources (96)

### Employment series

1. [US Census Bureau — 1920 Census occupational series, "Sales Managers and Department Heads" category; National Association of Sales Managers founding 1908 (secondary); IPUMS USA OCC1950 harmonized classification](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/OCC1950#codes_section), IPUMS USA / University of Minnesota
2. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
3. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
4. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2016, Table 98-400-X2016356 (Occupation by employment income statistics, NOC 2016), income reference year 2015](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-400-X2016356), Statistics Canada
5. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada
6. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 1132, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip), [2022](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), [2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip)
7. [ABS: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, table EQ08 (Employed persons by Occupation unit group, ANZSCO 2013), latest release](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release), Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Wage series

8. [US Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables: People (Current Population Survey) — managerial earnings series; Sales Management magazine salary surveys (secondary estimate: district sales manager circa 1950, ~$6,000-$7,000 nominal)](https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-people.html), US Census Bureau
9. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
10. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
11. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
12. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2016, Table 98-400-X2016356 (Occupation by employment income statistics, NOC 2016), income reference year 2015](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-400-X2016356), Statistics Canada
13. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada
14. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 1132, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip), [2022](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), [2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip)
15. [Jobs and Skills Australia: Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Managers (ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025)](https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/data/occupation-and-industry-profiles/occupations/1311-advertising-public-relations-and-sales-manager), Jobs and Skills Australia / Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Tool eras

16. [Wikipedia — National Cash Register Company: John Henry Patterson's pioneering sales management system (quotas, training, district meetings); foundational model for American corporate sales management](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCR_Corporation), Wikipedia
17. [National Association of Sales Managers (NASM) — founded 1908; first professional body for sales management in the United States (historical reference via Sales Management Association)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_management), Wikipedia
18. [Carnegie, Dale — "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (Simon & Schuster, October 1936): 30 million copies sold worldwide; foundational text for relationship-based sales management philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People), Wikipedia / Simon & Schuster
19. [Wikipedia — Dale Carnegie: founded public-speaking course 1912; ~450,000 graduates by 1955; How to Win Friends sold 250,000 copies in first 3 months](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Carnegie), Wikipedia
20. [Rackham, Neil — "SPIN Selling" (McGraw-Hill, 1988): 12 years of research, 35,000 sales calls across 20 countries; turned complex selling from art into science; #1 sales book (Inc. 2013)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Rackham), Wikipedia / McGraw-Hill
21. [Wikipedia — Solution selling: originated 1975 at Wang Laboratories; Mike Bosworth founded Solution Selling organization 1983 based on Xerox methodology; became dominant B2B framework through the 1990s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solution_selling), Wikipedia
22. [Wikipedia — Siebel Systems: founded by Tom Siebel in 1993; pioneered enterprise CRM; acquired by Oracle for $5.85 billion in 2006](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siebel_Systems), Wikipedia
23. [Wikipedia — Salesforce: founded March 8, 1999 by Marc Benioff; IPO June 2004, raised $110 million; surpassed $1 billion revenue 2009; pioneered cloud SaaS CRM delivery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salesforce), Wikipedia
24. [Wikipedia — HubSpot: founded June 2006 by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah; introduced inbound marketing methodology; HubSpot CRM launched free in 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HubSpot), Wikipedia
25. [Gong.io — company overview; founded 2015 by Amit Bendov and Eilon Reshef; ARR exceeds $500 million; Revenue AI OS platform for sales teams](https://www.gong.io/about), Gong.io
26. [McKinsey & Company — "AI-powered marketing and sales: What drives early adopters?" (2023): 5-15% revenue lift for AI-augmented sales organizations deploying systematic lead prioritization, personalization, and rep coaching](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/ai-powered-marketing-and-sales-reach-new-heights-with-generative-ai), McKinsey & Company
27. [Microsoft Learn — Sales agent (formerly Microsoft Sales Copilot, launched July 2023): integrates AI into Outlook and Teams for automatic CRM updates, meeting prep briefs, and deal coaching; supports Dynamics 365 Sales and Salesforce](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-sales-copilot/introduction), Microsoft

### Forecasts and exposure studies

28. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 11-2022 Sales managers (2025: 650.1 thousand; 2035: 679.1 thousand; +4.5%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=11-2022&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
29. [Frey & Osborne (2013), "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?", Appendix (SOC 11-2022 Sales Managers: probability 0.013, rank 59 of 702)](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf), Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford
30. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 11-2022.00, human-rated β 0.483)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

31. [Wikipedia — NCR Corporation: John Henry Patterson pioneered systematic sales management (scripted presentations, territory quotas, district meetings, conventions) at National Cash Register Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCR_Corporation), Wikipedia
32. [Wikipedia — "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (Dale Carnegie, 1936): 30 million copies sold worldwide; 250,000 copies in first 3 months; foundational text of relationship-based sales philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People), Wikipedia / Simon & Schuster
33. [Wikipedia — Neil Rackham: SPIN Selling (McGraw-Hill, 1988); 12 years research, 35,000 sales calls; turned complex selling from art into science; Inc. #1 sales book 2013](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Rackham), Wikipedia / McGraw-Hill
34. [Wikipedia — Salesforce: founded March 8, 1999 by Marc Benioff; IPO June 2004; $1B revenue 2009; first SaaS CRM to scale to enterprise and mid-market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salesforce), Wikipedia
35. [Wikipedia — HubSpot: founded June 2006 by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah; introduced inbound marketing methodology; HubSpot CRM launched free in 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HubSpot), Wikipedia
36. [Gong.io — co-founded 2015 by Amit Bendov and Eilon Reshef; Revenue AI OS; ARR exceeds $500M; records and analyzes sales calls to surface coaching insights for managers](https://www.gong.io/about), Gong.io

### Predecessors & successors

37. [BLS OOH — Sales Managers: typically promoted from sales representative positions; bachelor's degree plus several years of direct selling experience standard](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/sales-managers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-23
- [O\*NET 30.3 — Sales Managers (11-2022.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-2022.00), accessed 2026-05-23
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Sales Managers (4% growth 2023-2033)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/sales-managers.htm), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Salesforce "State of Sales" 6th Edition — AI adoption in sales orgs (2024)](https://www.salesforce.com/sales/state-of-sales/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Gong — Revenue AI platform: call intelligence, forecasting, and pipeline analytics](https://www.gong.io/platform/revenue-ai), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Gartner — "Sales Technology Magic Quadrant 2025" — Sales Manager AI-tool adoption and coaching time reallocation](https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/research/magic-quadrant-sales-force-automation), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Highspot — Sales enablement AI platform: content recommendations, readiness scoring, and rep productivity](https://www.highspot.com/), accessed 2026-06-21
- [LinkedIn Economic Graph — Research on the future of work and AI adoption across professions](https://economicgraph.linkedin.com/research), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Aviso AI — Deal risk scoring and AI-guided pipeline management (2025)](https://www.aviso.com/), accessed 2026-05-23

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.