Best degree programs for First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers, ranked by enrollment
3 college programs and 104 schools train First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $87,520 median wage, 214,390 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
3 college programs at 104 schools train first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers, graduating 2,280 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Selling Skills and Sales Operations. The job pays a median of $87,520 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of sales workers other than retail sales workers. May perform duties such as budgeting, accounting, and personnel work, in addition to supervisory duties.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
3 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.1804 | 1,847 | 81.0% | 85 | $50,281 | $24,250 |
| 2 | CIP 52.1899 | 229 | 10.0% | 12 | $50,281 | $24,250 |
| 3 | CIP 52.1909 | 204 | 8.9% | 8 | $35,157 | $26,750 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | $81,600 | 1,850 | 0.77× | 5 | 206 |
| Kentuckymoderate | $73,320 | 2,090 | 0.76× | 4 | 201 |
| Indiana | $84,650 | 3,820 | 0.87× | 6 | 194 |
| Ohio | $81,720 | 5,980 | 0.78× | 11 | 148 |
| Pennsylvaniamoderate | $82,870 | 5,930 | 0.71× | 3 | 144 |
| Kansaslimited | $74,220 | 840 | 0.42× | 1 | 136 |
| Iowamoderate | $89,640 | 2,530 | 1.18× | 3 | 123 |
| Illinois | $88,820 | 5,280 | 0.63× | 11 | 112 |
| Californiamoderate | $81,140 | 19,600 | 0.78× | 4 | 104 |
| Missourilimited | $79,440 | 2,910 | 0.72× | 2 | 103 |
| North Carolinalimited | $91,200 | 11,080 | 1.63× | 1 | 96 |
| Wisconsin | $91,980 | 4,930 | 1.22× | 9 | 92 |
| Georgiamoderate | $82,400 | 10,460 | 1.55× | 4 | 90 |
| Oklahomalimited | $74,840 | 2,620 | 1.11× | 2 | 86 |
| Minnesota | $88,510 | 2,130 | 0.52× | 7 | 84 |
| Texaslimited | $74,590 | 20,690 | 1.07× | 2 | 71 |
| Washingtonmoderate | $95,150 | 4,830 | 0.99× | 4 | 67 |
| North Dakotalimited | $79,060 | 310 | 0.52× | 2 | 45 |
| Tennesseelimited | $85,980 | 4,510 | 1.00× | 2 | 31 |
| Michiganmoderate | $80,170 | 3,490 | 0.57× | 3 | 25 |
| Alabamalimited | $77,070 | 2,410 | 0.83× | 1 | 24 |
| New Jerseylimited | $99,030 | 10,370 | 1.75× | 2 | 22 |
| Idaholimited | $78,200 | 970 | 0.82× | 1 | 17 |
| South Carolinalimited | $77,130 | 3,230 | 1.02× | 1 | 10 |
| Coloradolimited | $110,450 | 8,230 | 2.08× | 1 | 7 |
| Massachusettslimited | $115,150 | 5,490 | 1.09× | 2 | 7 |
| Nebraskalimited | $82,980 | 1,870 | 1.32× | 2 | 7 |
| New Yorklimited | $121,780 | 16,870 | 1.26× | 2 | 7 |
| Virginialimited | $98,170 | 9,020 | 1.59× | 1 | 7 |
| Arizonalimited | $82,350 | 2,550 | 0.57× | 1 | 5 |
| Floridalimited | $81,650 | 15,120 | 1.10× | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippilimited | $68,180 | 1,860 | 1.16× | 1 | 2 |
| Wyominglimited | $80,230 | 260 | 0.68× | 1 | 2 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Monitor sales staff performance to ensure that goals are met.
- Provide staff with assistance in performing difficult or complicated duties.
- Direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or performing specific services.
- Listen to and resolve customer complaints regarding services, products, or personnel.
- Keep records pertaining to purchases, sales, and requisitions.
- Hire, train, and evaluate personnel.
- Confer with company officials to develop methods and procedures to increase sales, expand markets, and promote business.
- Plan and prepare work schedules, and assign employees to specific duties.
Skills
- Speaking4.0
- Monitoring4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Writing3.6
- Critical Thinking3.6
- Reading Comprehension3.6
- Active Learning3.5
- Learning Strategies3.3
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.0
- Administration and Management3.9
- English Language3.8
- Personnel and Human Resources3.5
- Economics and Accounting3.4
- Sales and Marketing3.3
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Speech Recognition4.0
- Oral Expression4.0
- Speech Clarity3.9
- Deductive Reasoning3.8
- Inductive Reasoning3.8
Core activities
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.6
- Coaching and Developing Others4.4
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.4
- Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates4.4
- Getting Information4.4
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.3
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Worker
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- 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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.1804Selling Skills and Sales Operations
- 52.1899General Merchandising, Sales, and Related Marketing Operations, Other
- 52.1909Special Products Marketing Operations
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Worker?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Selling Skills and Sales Operations, which awarded 1,847 degrees in 2024-25, 81.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Worker?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are General Sales, Specialized Sales. Together they graduate about 2,280 people a year.
How much do first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers earn?+
The median is $87,520 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $50,320 at the 10th percentile to $164,070 at the 90th. 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 first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers growing?+
BLS projects a +0.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 24,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
104 institutions 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 first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Sales Leader, Sales Supervisor, Reservations Supervisor, Customer Service Supervisor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 41-1012.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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