South Carolina·Management Occupations·SOC 11-2022

Best Sales Manager programs in South Carolina, ranked by enrollment

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

51 schools in South Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 6,752 people a year. The job pays a median of $131,080 in South Carolina across about 9,340 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledSales ManagerSales DirectorDistrict Sales ManagerSales VP (Sales Vice President)Zone ManagerExport ManagerAccount ManagerArea Supervisor
Graduates / yr
6,752
in South Carolina
Median pay · South Carolina
$131,080
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
9,340
people employed
Schools
51
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
40%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,548
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in South Carolina that lead to this job

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

3 programs in South Carolina that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in South Carolina (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 South Carolina page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
14,177
61.9%
43$43,506$25,000
21,299
19.2%
13$44,670$24,250
31,276
18.9%
19$44,700$24,000

Top 25 schools in South Carolina

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 34 of the 51 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Clemson University
Clemson, SC Public · 2 feeder programs
1,281Business Administration and Management, General$47,26087%38%
2University of South Carolina - Columbia
Columbia, SC Public · 3 feeder programs
590Marketing/Marketing Management, General$52,37479%60%
3Coastal Carolina University
Conway, SC Public · 2 feeder programs
458Business Administration and Management, General$41,95348%75%
4College of Charleston
Charleston, SC Public · 2 feeder programs
417Business Administration and Management, General$41,29966%60%
5Lander University
Greenwood, SC Public · 1 feeder programs
387Business Administration and Management, General$37,20850%81%
6University of South Carolina Aiken
Aiken, SC Public · 1 feeder programs
371Business Administration and Management, General$44,81640%79%
7Strayer University - South Carolina
Greenville, SC Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
340Business/Commerce, General$55,43117%$22,134
8Citadel Military College of South Carolina
Charleston, SC Public · 3 feeder programs
263Business/Commerce, General75%23%
9Horry - Georgetown Technical College
Conway, SC Public · 1 feeder programs
235Business/Commerce, General$36,67938%
10Trident Technical College
Charleston, SC Public · 2 feeder programs
208Business/Commerce, General30%
11Winthrop University
Rock Hill, SC Public · 1 feeder programs
180Business Administration and Management, General$44,56857%79%
12Columbia International University
Columbia, SC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
107Business Administration and Management, General47%$21,36194%
13Greenville Technical College
Greenville, SC Public · 1 feeder programs
101Business Administration and Management, General$44,36221%
14Spartanburg Community College
Spartanburg, SC Public · 1 feeder programs
99Business Administration and Management, General$31,08728%
15Tri - County Technical College
Pendleton, SC Public · 1 feeder programs
99Business/Commerce, General42%
16Francis Marion University
Florence, SC Public · 2 feeder programs
91Business Administration and Management, General$39,03943%86%
17Spartanburg Methodist College
Spartanburg, SC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
86Business Administration and Management, General43%$16,72878%
18Piedmont Technical College
Greenwood, SC Public · 1 feeder programs
85Business/Commerce, General$33,48633%
19Charleston Southern University
Charleston, SC Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
83Business Administration and Management, General$64,92047%$21,84896%
20North Greenville University
Tigerville, SC Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
82Business Administration and Management, General$41,04155%$20,32767%
21Benedict College
Columbia, SC Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
78Business Administration and Management, General$28,41924%$19,58996%
22Furman University
Greenville, SC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
75Business Administration and Management, General$49,00879%$24,93243%
23York Technical College
Rock Hill, SC Public · 2 feeder programs
69Business Administration and Management, General$43,09630%
24Anderson University
Anderson, SC Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
67Business Administration and Management, General$49,75466%$24,81255%
25University of South Carolina - Upstate
Spartanburg, SC Public · 2 feeder programs
64Business Administration and Management, General$40,77543%67%

All 51 schools in South Carolina

Every school in South Carolina 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 South Carolina that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Clemson UniversityClemsonPublic1,2812
University of South Carolina - ColumbiaColumbiaPublic5903
Coastal Carolina UniversityConwayPublic4582
College of CharlestonCharlestonPublic4172
Lander UniversityGreenwoodPublic3871
University of South Carolina AikenAikenPublic3711
Strayer University - South CarolinaGreenvillePrivate for-profit3402
Citadel Military College of South CarolinaCharlestonPublic2633
Horry - Georgetown Technical CollegeConwayPublic2351
Trident Technical CollegeCharlestonPublic2082
Winthrop UniversityRock HillPublic1801
Columbia International UniversityColumbiaPrivate not-for-profit1071
Greenville Technical CollegeGreenvillePublic1011
Spartanburg Community CollegeSpartanburgPublic991
Tri - County Technical CollegePendletonPublic991

What sales managers earn in South Carolina

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

Median annual in South Carolina
$131,080
Mean annual
$143,660
Jobs in state
9,340
What the range looks like
10th pct$62,060Median$131,08090th pct$223,760
Versus the national median
-11.6%

U.S. median $148,270. South Carolina pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.99×

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

Metro areas in South Carolina

Charleston-North Charleston, SC
$139,830median
1,660 jobs
Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC
$129,090median
1,770 jobs
Spartanburg, SC
$130,870median
560 jobs
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC
$124,290median
300 jobs
Columbia, SC
$128,650median
1,360 jobs
Sumter, SC
$124,810median
80 jobs
Florence, SC
$121,930median
300 jobs
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC
$95,620median
530 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 South Carolina

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 South Carolina.

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 4,177 degrees in South Carolina in 2024-25, 61.9% 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 6,752 people a year in South Carolina.

How much do sales managers earn in South Carolina?+

The median is $131,080 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.6% below 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 South Carolina?+

51 institutions in South Carolina 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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