Compensation and Benefits Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate compensation and benefits activities of an organization.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Compensation and Benefits Managers. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $89,160 | $42.86 |
| 25th | $113,170 | $54.41 |
| 50th · Median | $149,230 | $71.75 |
| 75th | $200,610 | $96.45 |
| 90th | $256,570 | $123.35 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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Compare an entered wage with the published thresholds for United States. Your entry stays on this page.
This compares wage amounts to published percentile thresholds. It does not estimate your personal percentile, adjust for your experience, or compare total compensation. Match the wage definition and occupation group before using the result.
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (15)
Typical tasks
- Direct preparation and distribution of written and verbal information to inform employees of benefits, compensation, and personnel policies.
- Design, evaluate, and modify benefits policies to ensure that programs are current, competitive, and in compliance with legal requirements.
- Fulfill all reporting requirements of all relevant government rules and regulations, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
- Analyze compensation policies, government regulations, and prevailing wage rates to develop competitive compensation plan.
- Identify and implement benefits to increase the quality of life for employees by working with brokers and researching benefits issues.
- Manage the design and development of tools to assist employees in benefits selection, and to guide managers through compensation decisions.
Expand more tasks (16)
- Administer, direct, and review employee benefit programs, including the integration of benefit programs following mergers and acquisitions.
- Mediate between benefits providers and employees, such as by assisting in handling employees' benefits-related questions or taking suggestions.
- Plan, direct, supervise, and coordinate work activities of subordinates and staff relating to employment, compensation, labor relations, and employee relations.
- Prepare detailed job descriptions and classification systems and define job levels and families, in partnership with other managers.
- Develop methods to improve employment policies, processes, and practices, and recommend changes to management.
- Formulate policies, procedures and programs for recruitment, testing, placement, classification, orientation, benefits and compensation, and labor and industrial relations.
- Study legislation, arbitration decisions, and collective bargaining contracts to assess industry trends.
- Plan and conduct new-employee orientations to foster positive attitude toward organizational objectives.
- Prepare budgets for personnel operations.
- Negotiate bargaining agreements.
- Prepare personnel forecasts to project employment needs.
- Maintain records and compile statistical reports concerning personnel-related data, such as hires, transfers, performance appraisals, and absenteeism rates.
- Analyze statistical data and reports to identify and determine causes of personnel problems, and develop recommendations for improvement of organization's personnel policies and practices.
- Contract with vendors to provide employee services, such as food services, transportation, or relocation service.
- Advise management on such matters as equal employment opportunity, sexual harassment, and discrimination.
- Represent organization at personnel-related hearings and investigations.
Skills used in this work
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Expand more skills (29)
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
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