Kansas·Management Occupations·SOC 11-2022

Best Sales Manager programs in Kansas, ranked by enrollment

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

40 schools in Kansas run programs that feed this job, graduating 3,266 people a year. The job pays a median of $159,990 in Kansas across about 6,820 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledSales ManagerSales DirectorDistrict Sales ManagerSales VP (Sales Vice President)Zone ManagerExport ManagerAccount ManagerArea Supervisor
Graduates / yr
3,266
in Kansas
Median pay · Kansas
$159,990
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
6,820
people employed
Schools
40
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
43%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,730
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Kansas that lead to this job

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

3 programs in Kansas that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Kansas (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 Kansas 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 Kansas
1,937
59.3%
34$43,506$25,000
2
CIP 52.1401In Kansas
786
24.1%
20$44,670$24,250
3
CIP 52.0101In Kansas
543
16.6%
11$44,700$24,000

Top 25 schools in Kansas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 20 of the 40 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 Kansas
Lawrence, KS Public · 3 feeder programs
726Business/Commerce, General$49,33969%93%
2Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS Public · 3 feeder programs
449Marketing/Marketing Management, General$50,46871%82%
3Wichita State University
Wichita, KS Public · 2 feeder programs
260Business Administration and Management, General$44,88451%94%
4Emporia State University
Emporia, KS Public · 2 feeder programs
227Business Administration and Management, General$40,52856%98%
5Fort Hays State University
Hays, KS Public · 2 feeder programs
200Marketing/Marketing Management, General$45,61948%90%
6Baker University
Baldwin City, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
119Business Administration and Management, General$59,14558%$21,40494%
7Friends University
Wichita, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
107Business Administration and Management, General$54,09043%$24,08455%
8Johnson County Community College
Overland Park, KS Public · 2 feeder programs
104Marketing/Marketing Management, General31%
9Butler Community College
El Dorado, KS Public · 2 feeder programs
96Business/Commerce, General32%
10Benedictine College
Atchison, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
79Business Administration and Management, General$39,66162%$24,82698%
11Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg, KS Public · 3 feeder programs
78Business Administration and Management, General57%89%
12MidAmerica Nazarene University
Olathe, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
77Business Administration and Management, General$58,49454%$28,84579%
13Washburn University
Topeka, KS Public · 3 feeder programs
71Business Administration and Management, General$48,58953%
14Newman University
Wichita, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
68Business Administration and Management, General53%$18,52074%
15Ottawa University - Online
Overland Park, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
68Business Administration and Management, General$51,62743%
16Southwestern College
Winfield, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
66Business Administration and Management, General$59,95136%$26,86876%
17Kansas Wesleyan University
Salina, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
65Business Administration and Management, General$35,13749%$23,01472%
18University of Saint Mary
Leavenworth, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
63Business Administration and Management, General$35,34448%$22,73087%
19Wichita State University - Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology
Wichita, KS Public · 1 feeder programs
47Business Administration and Management, General43%
20Ottawa University - Ottawa
Ottawa, KS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
46Business Administration and Management, General$51,62728%$26,93583%
21Tabor College
Hillsboro, KS Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
41Business/Commerce, General34%$20,02265%
22McPherson College
McPherson, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
39Business Administration and Management, General34%$24,59577%
23Bethel College - North Newton
North Newton, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
31Business/Commerce, General$34,87941%$23,56094%
24Haskell Indian Nations University
Lawrence, KS Public · 1 feeder programs
27Business Administration and Management, General$25,94118%90%
25Ottawa University - Kansas City
Overland Park, KS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
21Business Administration and Management, General$51,627

All 40 schools in Kansas

Every school in Kansas 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 Kansas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of KansasLawrencePublic7263
Kansas State UniversityManhattanPublic4493
Wichita State UniversityWichitaPublic2602
Emporia State UniversityEmporiaPublic2272
Fort Hays State UniversityHaysPublic2002
Baker UniversityBaldwin CityPrivate not-for-profit1192
Friends UniversityWichitaPrivate not-for-profit1072
Johnson County Community CollegeOverland ParkPublic1042
Butler Community CollegeEl DoradoPublic962
Benedictine CollegeAtchisonPrivate not-for-profit792
Pittsburg State UniversityPittsburgPublic783
MidAmerica Nazarene UniversityOlathePrivate not-for-profit772
Washburn UniversityTopekaPublic713
Newman UniversityWichitaPrivate not-for-profit681
Ottawa University - OnlineOverland ParkPrivate not-for-profit681

What sales managers earn in Kansas

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

Median annual in Kansas
$159,990
Mean annual
$168,320
Jobs in state
6,820
What the range looks like
10th pct$91,530Median$159,99090th pct$249,990
Versus the national median
+7.9%

U.S. median $148,270. Kansas pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.16×

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

Metro areas in Kansas

Lawrence, KS
$189,740median
180 jobs
Topeka, KS
$154,970median
380 jobs
Manhattan, KS
$162,920median
130 jobs
Wichita, KS
$134,650median
960 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 Kansas

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 Kansas.

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 1,937 degrees in Kansas in 2024-25, 59.3% 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 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Marketing, Business/Commerce. Together they graduate about 3,266 people a year in Kansas.

How much do sales managers earn in Kansas?+

The median is $159,990 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 7.9% above 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 Kansas?+

40 institutions in Kansas reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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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