Arizona·Management Occupations·SOC 11-2022

Best Sales Manager programs in Arizona, ranked by enrollment

Plan, direct, or coordinate the actual distribution or movement of a product or service to the customer.

37 schools in Arizona run programs that feed this job, graduating 25,910 people a year. The job pays a median of $145,690 in Arizona across about 13,870 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledSales ManagerSales DirectorDistrict Sales ManagerSales VP (Sales Vice President)Zone ManagerExport ManagerAccount ManagerArea Supervisor
Graduates / yr
25,910
in Arizona
Median pay · Arizona
$145,690
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
13,870
people employed
Schools
37
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
30%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,877
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Arizona that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

4 programs in Arizona that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Arizona (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arizona page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.0201In Arizona
22,732
87.7%
35$43,506$25,000
2
CIP 52.1401In Arizona
1,651
6.4%
13$44,670$24,250
3
CIP 52.0101In Arizona
1,522
5.9%
16$44,700$24,000
4
CIP 19.0203In Arizona
5
0.0%
1$40,949$23,344

Top 25 schools in Arizona

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 13 of the 37 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Phoenix - Arizona
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
13,451Business Administration and Management, General$58,26821%$15,478
2Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
3,549Business Administration and Management, General$53,77043%$21,53579%
3The University of Arizona Global Campus
Chandler, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
1,851Business Administration and Management, General$61,46611%$26,445
4American InterContinental University System
Chandler, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1,811Business Administration and Management, General$43,5289%$15,785
5University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs
879Business Administration and Management, General$50,92468%86%
6Arizona State University Campus Immersion
Tempe, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
660Marketing/Marketing Management, General$48,67668%90%
7Mesa Community College
Mesa, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs
507Business/Commerce, General16%
8Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
459Business Administration and Management, General$47,88461%90%
9Chandler - Gilbert Community College
Chandler, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
430Business/Commerce, General30%
10Glendale Community College
Glendale, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs
343Business/Commerce, General16%
11Estrella Mountain Community College
Avondale, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
250Business/Commerce, General32%
12Paradise Valley Community College
Phoenix, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs
199Business/Commerce, General19%
13Phoenix College
Phoenix, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs
195Business/Commerce, General14%
14Pima Community College
Tucson, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
195Business Administration and Management, General28%
15Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs
142Business Administration and Management, General17%
16South Mountain Community College
Phoenix, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
106Business/Commerce, General16%
17Arizona State University Digital Immersion
Scottsdale, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
103Marketing/Marketing Management, General$48,6760%67%
18Rio Salado College
Tempe, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
94Business/Commerce, General9%
19Arizona Western College
Yuma, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
92Business Administration and Management, General20%
20Arizona Christian University
Glendale, AZ Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
83Business Administration and Management, General$40,70240%$32,19871%
21Ottawa University - Surprise
Surprise, AZ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
62Business Administration and Management, General$51,62718%$34,37378%
22Eastern Arizona College
Thatcher, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
47Business Administration and Management, General42%
23Bryan University
Tempe, AZ Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
46Business Administration and Management, General41%$22,877
24Yavapai College
Prescott, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
46Business/Commerce, General34%
25Aspen University
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
45Business Administration and Management, General$54,92227%

All 37 schools in Arizona

Every school in Arizona with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Arizona that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Phoenix - ArizonaPhoenixPrivate for-profit13,4512
Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenixPrivate not-for-profit3,5493
The University of Arizona Global CampusChandlerPublic1,8511
American InterContinental University SystemChandlerPrivate for-profit1,8111
University of ArizonaTucsonPublic8793
Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempePublic6602
Mesa Community CollegeMesaPublic5073
Northern Arizona UniversityFlagstaffPublic4592
Chandler - Gilbert Community CollegeChandlerPublic4302
Glendale Community CollegeGlendalePublic3433
Estrella Mountain Community CollegeAvondalePublic2502
Paradise Valley Community CollegePhoenixPublic1993
Phoenix CollegePhoenixPublic1953
Pima Community CollegeTucsonPublic1952
Scottsdale Community CollegeScottsdalePublic1423

What sales managers earn in Arizona

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arizona
$145,690
Mean annual
$158,700
Jobs in state
13,870
What the range looks like
10th pct$74,510Median$145,69090th pct$255,220
Versus the national median
-1.7%

U.S. median $148,270. Arizona pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.04×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Arizona

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
$148,320median
11,210 jobs
Tucson, AZ
$138,880median
1,100 jobs
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ
$133,800median
100 jobs
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ
$120,460median
150 jobs
Yuma, AZ
$124,500median
190 jobs
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ
$113,850median
160 jobs
Flagstaff, AZ
$107,960median
180 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+4.7%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
49,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
29,000
619,500 → 648,500
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Sales Managers page.

How to become a Sales Manager

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingMonitoringCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Arizona

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Sales Managers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 19.0203Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management
  • 51.2011Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management
  • 52.0101Business/Commerce, General
  • 52.0201Business Administration and Management, General
  • 52.1401Marketing/Marketing Management, General

Common questions

Answers for people weighing sales managers programs in Arizona.

What degree do you need to become a Sales Manager?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Business Administration and Management, General, which awarded 22,732 degrees in Arizona in 2024-25, 87.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Sales Manager?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Marketing, Business/Commerce, Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Business Services. Together they graduate about 25,910 people a year in Arizona.

How much do sales managers earn in Arizona?+

The median is $145,690 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.7% below the U.S. median of $148,270. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for sales managers growing?+

BLS projects a +4.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 49,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arizona?+

37 institutions in Arizona reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do sales managers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Sales Manager, Sales Director, District Sales Manager, Sales VP (Sales Vice President) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-2022.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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