Missouri·Management Occupations·SOC 11-3121

Best Human Resources Manager programs in Missouri, ranked by enrollment

Plan, direct, or coordinate human resources activities and staff of an.

53 schools in Missouri run programs that feed this job, graduating 4,306 people a year. The job pays a median of $130,680 in Missouri across about 3,510 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledEmployee Relations ManagerHR Manager (Human Resources Manager)HR Director (Human Resources Director)HR VP (Human Resources Vice President)Staffing ManagerDiversity ManagerPersonnel ManagerWorkforce Manager
Graduates / yr
4,306
in Missouri
Median pay · Missouri
$130,680
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
3,510
people employed
Schools
53
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
51%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,095
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Missouri that lead to this job

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

7 programs in Missouri that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Missouri (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 Missouri 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 Missouri
3,651
84.8%
48$43,506$25,000
2
CIP 52.0213In Missouri
259
6.0%
21$43,506$25,000
3
CIP 52.1001In Missouri
223
5.2%
10$49,084$26,536
4
CIP 42.2804In Missouri
82
1.9%
8$33,805$27,000
5
CIP 09.0901In Missouri
61
1.4%
6$39,658$24,500
6
CIP 52.1003In Missouri
19
0.4%
2$49,084$26,536
7
CIP 52.1006In Missouri
11
0.3%
1$49,084$26,536

Top 25 schools in Missouri

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 32 of the 53 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Park University
Parkville, MO Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
497Business Administration and Management, General$53,20138%$16,013
2Webster University
Saint Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
444Business Administration and Management, General$45,11964%$25,09086%
3Missouri State University - Springfield
Springfield, MO Public · 5 feeder programs
345Business Administration and Management, General$40,96858%91%
4Washington University in St Louis
St. Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
285Business Administration and Management, General94%$14,12612%
5Northwest Missouri State University
Maryville, MO Public · 3 feeder programs
283Business Administration and Management, General$43,67254%86%
6Southeast Missouri State University
Cape Girardeau, MO Public · 4 feeder programs
233Business Administration and Management, General$41,60458%74%
7Rockhurst University
Kansas City, MO Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
181Business Administration and Management, General$51,88775%$21,89070%
8University of Missouri - Kansas City
Kansas City, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
165Business Administration and Management, General55%72%
9Ozarks Technical Community College
Springfield, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
127Business Administration and Management, General$34,64433%
10Columbia College
Columbia, MO Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
123Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$49,32642%$23,247
11University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
113Business Administration and Management, General$42,58854%64%
12Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
112Business Administration and Management, General$48,37180%$24,88675%
13William Woods University
Fulton, MO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
111Business Administration and Management, General$40,01047%$22,20371%
14Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
108Business Administration and Management, General$48,29666%$24,92195%
15St Charles Community College
Cottleville, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
93Business Administration and Management, General25%
16Missouri Baptist University
Saint Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
77Business Administration and Management, General$42,46148%$25,40769%
17Missouri Western State University
Saint Joseph, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
70Business Administration and Management, General$41,90239%
18Truman State University
Kirksville, MO Public · 2 feeder programs
60Business Administration and Management, General$50,42269%84%
19William Jewell College
Liberty, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
58Business Administration and Management, General$44,06468%$14,07238%
20Culver - Stockton College
Canton, MO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
55Business Administration and Management, General$41,98539%$21,26999%
21Lindenwood University
Saint Charles, MO Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
52Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$50,42649%$17,43657%
22Drury University - College of Continuing Professional Studies
Springfield, MO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
47Business Administration and Management, General$43,37443%$14,825
23Metropolitan Community College - Kansas City
Kansas City, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
47Business Administration and Management, General$38,55434%
24Drury University
Springfield, MO Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
43Business Administration and Management, General$43,37462%$20,48258%
25Evangel University
Springfield, MO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
43Organizational Leadership$41,61065%$17,88172%

All 53 schools in Missouri

Every school in Missouri 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 Missouri that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Park UniversityParkvillePrivate not-for-profit4974
Webster UniversitySaint LouisPrivate not-for-profit4442
Missouri State University - SpringfieldSpringfieldPublic3455
Washington University in St LouisSt. LouisPrivate not-for-profit2853
Northwest Missouri State UniversityMaryvillePublic2833
Southeast Missouri State UniversityCape GirardeauPublic2334
Rockhurst UniversityKansas CityPrivate not-for-profit1813
University of Missouri - Kansas CityKansas CityPublic1651
Ozarks Technical Community CollegeSpringfieldPublic1271
Columbia CollegeColumbiaPrivate not-for-profit1233
University of Central MissouriWarrensburgPublic1131
Saint Louis UniversitySaint LouisPrivate not-for-profit1124
William Woods UniversityFultonPrivate not-for-profit1112
Maryville University of Saint LouisSaint LouisPrivate not-for-profit1083
St Charles Community CollegeCottlevillePublic931

What human resources managers earn in Missouri

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

Median annual in Missouri
$130,680
Mean annual
$144,900
Jobs in state
3,510
What the range looks like
10th pct$81,730Median$130,68090th pct$225,160
Versus the national median
-12.5%

U.S. median $149,280. Missouri pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.84×

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

Metro areas in Missouri

Kansas City, MO-KS
$140,890median
1,380 jobs
St. Louis, MO-IL
$133,880median
1,940 jobs
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL
$128,240median
30 jobs
Columbia, MO
$130,190median
150 jobs
St. Joseph, MO-KS
$115,270median
40 jobs
Springfield, MO
$125,000median
210 jobs
Jefferson City, MO
$106,850median
110 jobs
Joplin, MO-KS
$99,520median
70 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+5.0%
Faster than average
Openings per year
17,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
11,100
221,900 → 233,000
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 Human Resources Managers page.

How to become a Human Resources Manager

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

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 ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionWritingMonitoringCritical Thinking

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Missouri

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 9 majors mapped to Human Resources Managers9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 09.0901Organizational Communication, General
  • 42.2804Industrial and Organizational Psychology
  • 52.0201Business Administration and Management, General
  • 52.0213Organizational Leadership
  • 52.1001Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
  • 52.1002Labor and Industrial Relations
  • 52.1003Organizational Behavior Studies
  • 52.1004Labor Studies
  • 52.1006Executive/Career Coaching

Common questions

Answers for people weighing human resources managers programs in Missouri.

What degree do you need to become a Human Resources 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 3,651 degrees in Missouri in 2024-25, 84.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Human Resources Manager?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Human Resources Management and Services, Clinical, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 4,306 people a year in Missouri.

How much do human resources managers earn in Missouri?+

The median is $130,680 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 12.5% below the U.S. median of $149,280. 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 human resources managers growing?+

BLS projects a +5.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 17,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

53 institutions in Missouri reported graduates from at least one of the 7 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 human resources managers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Employee Relations Manager, HR Manager (Human Resources Manager), HR Director (Human Resources Director), HR VP (Human Resources Vice President) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-3121.

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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