Best degree programs for First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers, ranked by enrollment
8 college programs and 228 schools train First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $48,520 median wage, 1,121,800 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
8 college programs at 228 schools train first-line supervisors of retail sales workers, graduating 5,242 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Selling Skills and Sales Operations. The job pays a median of $48,520 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About first-line supervisors of retail sales workers
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of retail sales workers in an establishment or department. Duties may include management functions, such as purchasing, 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.
8 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 | 35.2% | 85 | $50,281 | $24,250 |
| 2 | CIP 52.0212 | 1,362 | 26.0% | 62 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 52.1803 | 960 | 18.3% | 22 | $50,281 | $24,250 |
| 4 | CIP 52.0208 | 414 | 7.9% | 35 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 5 | CIP 52.1899 | 229 | 4.4% | 12 | $50,281 | $24,250 |
| 6 | CIP 52.1909 | 204 | 3.9% | 8 | $35,157 | $26,750 |
| 7 | CIP 01.0608 | 119 | 2.3% | 19 | $35,900 | $14,000 |
| 8 | Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Managementmain feeder CIP 19.0203 | 107 | 2.0% | 11 | $40,949 | $23,344 |
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $54,870 | 109,180 | 0.83× | 40 | 988 |
| Wisconsin | $49,550 | 17,750 | 0.84× | 9 | 416 |
| Ohio | $45,680 | 39,110 | 0.98× | 12 | 272 |
| Utah | $47,470 | 10,270 | 0.82× | 5 | 271 |
| Washington | $60,750 | 27,640 | 1.08× | 12 | 219 |
| Indiana | $47,790 | 22,090 | 0.96× | 6 | 215 |
| Kentuckymoderate | $40,080 | 18,290 | 1.27× | 4 | 210 |
| Illinois | $47,990 | 36,940 | 0.84× | 19 | 195 |
| Missourimoderate | $46,860 | 19,160 | 0.90× | 4 | 188 |
| Oregonmoderate | $50,660 | 13,940 | 0.98× | 3 | 179 |
| Michigan | $46,430 | 30,750 | 0.97× | 7 | 172 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $47,770 | 19,390 | 1.17× | 4 | 172 |
| Kansas | $46,950 | 9,250 | 0.89× | 5 | 170 |
| Texas | $46,280 | 103,410 | 1.02× | 10 | 163 |
| Minnesota | $48,770 | 21,530 | 1.01× | 11 | 161 |
| Pennsylvania | $46,690 | 40,970 | 0.94× | 7 | 157 |
| Arizona | $48,010 | 20,260 | 0.87× | 12 | 148 |
| Iowamoderate | $46,610 | 9,970 | 0.89× | 3 | 123 |
| New York | $58,300 | 50,830 | 0.73× | 10 | 114 |
| Georgia | $46,150 | 36,900 | 1.05× | 6 | 104 |
| North Carolinalimited | $47,760 | 39,890 | 1.12× | 1 | 96 |
| Oklahomalimited | $45,430 | 15,340 | 1.25× | 2 | 91 |
| New Jerseymoderate | $57,320 | 31,160 | 1.01× | 3 | 80 |
| New Mexicolimited | $46,550 | 7,660 | 1.22× | 1 | 60 |
| North Dakotamoderate | $49,350 | 2,640 | 0.85× | 3 | 46 |
| Louisianalimited | $43,860 | 16,910 | 1.21× | 2 | 42 |
| Idaholimited | $46,140 | 7,330 | 1.19× | 2 | 37 |
| Tennesseemoderate | $47,880 | 26,470 | 1.12× | 3 | 36 |
| Floridalimited | $48,410 | 80,470 | 1.12× | 2 | 35 |
| Alabamalimited | $44,860 | 25,020 | 1.64× | 1 | 24 |
| Nebraskamoderate | $45,280 | 7,010 | 0.95× | 3 | 10 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $57,490 | 20,240 | 0.77× | 3 | 8 |
| Coloradolimited | $58,200 | 26,390 | 1.27× | 1 | 7 |
| Virginialimited | $47,990 | 32,250 | 1.09× | 1 | 7 |
| Mississippilimited | $45,760 | 13,020 | 1.55× | 2 | 5 |
| West Virginialimited | $39,740 | 7,420 | 1.47× | 1 | 5 |
| Marylandlimited | $47,000 | 23,080 | 1.16× | 1 | 3 |
| Montanalimited | $49,300 | 5,830 | 1.58× | 1 | 3 |
| Connecticutlimited | $56,510 | 13,910 | 1.14× | 1 | 2 |
| Wyominglimited | $45,980 | 3,060 | 1.51× | 1 | 2 |
| Arkansaslimited | $36,950 | 11,050 | 1.17× | 1 | 1 |
| Nevadalimited | $46,900 | 10,500 | 0.94× | 1 | 1 |
| Vermontlimited | $55,760 | 2,310 | 1.05× | 1 | 1 |
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
- Provide customer service by greeting and assisting customers and responding to customer inquiries and complaints.
- Direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or in performing services for customers.
- Examine merchandise to ensure that it is correctly priced and displayed and that it functions as advertised.
- Monitor sales activities to ensure that customers receive satisfactory service and quality goods.
- Instruct staff on how to handle difficult and complicated sales.
- Assign employees to specific duties.
- Keep records of purchases, sales, and requisitions.
- Perform work activities of subordinates, such as cleaning and organizing shelves and displays and selling merchandise.
Skills
- Active Listening3.9
- Speaking3.8
- Monitoring3.5
- Critical Thinking3.5
- Writing3.0
- Learning Strategies3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Active Learning3.0
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.8
- Administration and Management4.5
- Sales and Marketing3.9
- English Language3.9
- Education and Training3.6
- Personnel and Human Resources3.3
Abilities
- Speech Clarity3.9
- Oral Expression3.9
- Oral Comprehension3.9
- Speech Recognition3.8
- Problem Sensitivity3.3
- Deductive Reasoning3.1
Core activities
- Training and Teaching Others4.1
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public4.1
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems3.9
- Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others3.9
- Coaching and Developing Others3.9
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates3.8
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Worker
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 8 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers8 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0608Floriculture/Floristry Operations and Management
- 19.0203Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management
- 52.0208E-Commerce/Electronic Commerce
- 52.0212Retail Management
- 52.1803Retailing and Retail Operations
- 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 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, 35.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Worker?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are General Sales, Business Administration, Specialized Sales, Applied Horticulture and Horticultural Business Services, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 5,242 people a year.
How much do first-line supervisors of retail sales workers earn?+
The median is $48,520 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $33,120 at the 10th percentile to $77,080 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 retail sales workers growing?+
BLS projects a -5.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 125,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
228 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 8 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 retail sales workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Shift Manager, Store Manager, Department Manager, Meat Department Manager among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 41-1011.
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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