Best programs to become a first-line supervisor
You do not need a college degree to become a first-line supervisor. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. It also expects less than 5 years of related work experience. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Operations Management and Supervision (IPEDS completions).
1 college program at 144 schools trains first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, graduating 11,666 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $74,450 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About first-line supervisors of production and operating workers
Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of production and operating workers, such as inspectors, precision workers, machine setters and operators, assemblers, fabricators, and plant and system operators. Excludes team or work leaders.
Best programs to study to become a first-line supervisor
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 52.0205 | 11,666 | 100.0% | 144 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
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.
What first-line supervisors of production and operating 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | $63,950 | 27,710 | 0.64× | 10 | 5,521 |
| Indiana | $73,950 | 26,870 | 1.94× | 7 | 1,870 |
| New Hampshirelimited | $79,310 | 3,000 | 1.01× | 2 | 702 |
| Ohio | $72,160 | 31,980 | 1.33× | 11 | 548 |
| Arizona | $75,330 | 8,720 | 0.62× | 6 | 539 |
| Wisconsin | $74,840 | 25,500 | 2.00× | 8 | 348 |
| Texas | $70,140 | 58,930 | 0.97× | 9 | 230 |
| Washington | $79,310 | 14,500 | 0.94× | 5 | 204 |
| Kansasmoderate | $74,480 | 7,980 | 1.28× | 3 | 174 |
| Illinois | $75,200 | 29,640 | 1.12× | 10 | 151 |
| Utahmoderate | $71,220 | 9,040 | 1.20× | 3 | 111 |
| Minnesota | $78,550 | 13,380 | 1.05× | 5 | 109 |
| Michigan | $72,170 | 26,650 | 1.40× | 6 | 87 |
| Oklahomamoderate | $70,000 | 9,570 | 1.29× | 4 | 87 |
| North Carolinalimited | $69,640 | 22,240 | 1.04× | 2 | 85 |
| Oregonmoderate | $73,580 | 8,180 | 0.96× | 4 | 85 |
| Virginiamoderate | $74,150 | 13,530 | 0.76× | 3 | 83 |
| Marylandmoderate | $78,520 | 6,100 | 0.51× | 4 | 75 |
| Delawarelimited | $79,100 | 1,450 | 0.69× | 1 | 74 |
| Tennesseelimited | $65,310 | 18,960 | 1.33× | 2 | 67 |
| North Dakotalimited | $76,350 | 1,650 | 0.89× | 2 | 59 |
| Wyominglimited | $90,390 | 1,470 | 1.21× | 2 | 56 |
| Nebraskalimited | $72,200 | 6,040 | 1.36× | 1 | 51 |
| Georgiamoderate | $69,170 | 26,190 | 1.24× | 4 | 48 |
| New Yorkmoderate | $78,580 | 20,830 | 0.50× | 4 | 47 |
| Pennsylvaniamoderate | $74,990 | 28,900 | 1.10× | 4 | 45 |
| Idahomoderate | $70,890 | 3,900 | 1.05× | 3 | 40 |
| Missourilimited | $73,210 | 15,430 | 1.21× | 1 | 29 |
| District of Columbialimited | $80,030 | 350 | 0.11× | 1 | 27 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $79,920 | 12,390 | 0.79× | 4 | 25 |
| West Virginialimited | $68,990 | 3,120 | 1.03× | 1 | 14 |
| South Carolinalimited | $77,500 | 14,570 | 1.46× | 2 | 13 |
| Connecticutlimited | $83,150 | 9,150 | 1.25× | 1 | 12 |
| New Jerseylimited | $81,110 | 15,040 | 0.81× | 1 | 9 |
| Alabamalimited | $73,060 | 20,670 | 2.26× | 1 | 5 |
| Arkansaslimited | $63,090 | 11,000 | 1.95× | 1 | 5 |
| Mainelimited | $78,970 | 2,970 | 1.07× | 1 | 4 |
| Louisianalimited | $77,520 | 9,350 | 1.12× | 1 | 2 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $81,650 | 2,660 | 1.22× | 1 | 2 |
Skills and knowledge
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
- Enforce safety and sanitation regulations.
- Keep records of employees' attendance and hours worked.
- Inspect materials, products, or equipment to detect defects or malfunctions.
- Read and analyze charts, work orders, production schedules, and other records and reports to determine production requirements and to evaluate current production estimates and outputs.
- Plan and establish work schedules, assignments, and production sequences to meet production goals.
- Confer with other supervisors to coordinate operations and activities within or between departments.
- Interpret specifications, blueprints, job orders, and company policies and procedures for workers.
- Observe work and monitor gauges, dials, and other indicators to ensure that operators conform to production or processing standards.
Skills
- Active Listening3.9
- Speaking3.9
- Monitoring3.8
- Critical Thinking3.8
- Reading Comprehension3.5
- Writing3.1
- Learning Strategies3.1
- Active Learning3.1
Knowledge areas
- Production and Processing4.3
- Administration and Management4.1
- Personnel and Human Resources3.6
- English Language3.5
- Computers and Electronics3.2
- Mathematics3.2
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.0
- Problem Sensitivity4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Deductive Reasoning3.8
- Speech Clarity3.8
- Speech Recognition3.8
Core activities
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.5
- Getting Information4.4
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.3
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.2
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.2
- Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates4.1
How to get in
How to become a first-line supervisor
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.0205Operations Management and Supervision
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 supervisor?+
You do not need a college degree to become a first-line supervisor. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. It also expects less than 5 years of related work experience. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Operations Management and Supervision (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a first-line supervisor?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Operations Management and Supervision (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 program to this job, which graduates about 11,666 people a year.
How much do first-line supervisors of production and operating workers earn?+
The median is $74,450 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $47,130 at the 10th percentile to $108,750 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 production and operating workers growing?+
BLS projects a +1.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 67,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
144 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program 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 production and operating workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Production Manager, Assembly Supervisor, Production Supervisor, Manufacturing Supervisor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-1011.
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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