Best First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Worker programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of retail sales workers in an establishment or department.
12 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 219 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,750 in Washington across about 27,640 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Washington that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Washington that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Washington (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 Washington page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.1803In Washington → | 124 | 56.6% | 1 | $50,281 | $24,250 |
| 2 | CIP 52.1804In Washington → | 61 | 27.9% | 3 | $50,281 | $24,250 |
| 3 | CIP 52.0212In Washington → | 27 | 12.3% | 6 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 4 | CIP 52.1909In Washington → | 6 | 2.7% | 1 | $35,157 | $26,750 |
| 5 | CIP 52.0208In Washington → | 1 | 0.5% | 1 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
Top 12 schools in Washington
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 12 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tacoma Community College Tacoma, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 124 | Retailing and Retail Operations | $26,283 | 32% | — | — |
| 2 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Selling Skills and Sales Operations | — | 60% | — | 87% |
| 3 | Clover Park Technical College Lakewood, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Retail Management | — | 43% | — | — |
| 4 | Clark College Vancouver, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Selling Skills and Sales Operations | — | 39% | — | — |
| 5 | Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Special Products Marketing Operations | — | 54% | — | 91% |
| 6 | Highline College Des Moines, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Retail Management | — | 35% | — | — |
| 7 | Green River College Auburn, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Retail Management | — | 39% | — | — |
| 8 | Lower Columbia College Longview, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Retail Management | — | 23% | — | — |
| 9 | Peninsula College Port Angeles, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | E-Commerce/Electronic Commerce | — | 37% | — | — |
| 10 | Pierce College District Lakewood, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Selling Skills and Sales Operations | — | 31% | — | — |
| 11 | Shoreline College Shoreline, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Retail Management | — | 29% | — | — |
| 12 | Whatcom Community College Bellingham, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Retail Management | — | 36% | — | — |
All 12 schools in Washington
Every school in Washington 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tacoma Community College | Tacoma | Public | 124 | 1 |
| Washington State University | Pullman | Public | 46 | 1 |
| Clover Park Technical College | Lakewood | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Clark College | Vancouver | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Central Washington University | Ellensburg | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Highline College | Des Moines | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Green River College | Auburn | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Lower Columbia College | Longview | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Peninsula College | Port Angeles | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Pierce College District | Lakewood | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Shoreline College | Shoreline | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Whatcom Community College | Bellingham | Public | 1 | 1 |
What first-line supervisors of retail sales workers earn in Washington
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $48,520. Washington pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Washington
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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 First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers page.
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.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Washington
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
Common questions
Answers for people weighing first-line supervisors of retail sales workers programs in Washington.
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 Retailing and Retail Operations, which awarded 124 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 56.6% 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 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are General Sales, Business Administration, Specialized Sales. Together they graduate about 219 people a year in Washington.
How much do first-line supervisors of retail sales workers earn in Washington?+
The median is $60,750 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 25.2% above the U.S. median of $48,520. 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 in Washington?+
12 institutions in Washington reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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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