Washington·Management Occupations·SOC 11-3051

Best Industrial Production Manager programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment

Plan, direct, or coordinate the work activities and resources necessary for manufacturing products in accordance with cost, quality, and quantity.

55 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 5,496 people a year. The job pays a median of $145,210 in Washington across about 4,760 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledPlant ManagerQuality ManagerAssembly ManagerPlant SupervisorProduction ManagerMaintenance ManagerManufacturing ManagerOperations Supervisor
Graduates / yr
5,496
in Washington
Median pay · Washington
$145,210
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
4,760
people employed
Schools
55
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
45%
across those schools
Median net price
$24,653
per year, IPEDS

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.

8 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.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
13,309
60.2%
45$43,506$25,000
21,758
32.0%
36$44,700$24,000
3204
3.7%
5$43,506$25,000
489
1.6%
2$74,748$24,989
548
0.9%
5$43,506$25,000
644
0.8%
3$68,912$25,236
725
0.5%
2$43,506$25,000
819
0.3%
1$48,728$23,761

Top 25 schools in Washington

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 24 of the 55 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Washington State University
Pullman, WA Public · 3 feeder programs
590Business Administration and Management, General$52,63660%87%
2University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA Public · 3 feeder programs
397Business Administration and Management, General$49,00485%39%
3Gonzaga University
Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
393Business/Commerce, General$54,54086%$30,00682%
4Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
338Business Administration and Management, General$45,13843%91%
5Central Washington University
Ellensburg, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
238Business Administration and Management, General$49,79154%91%
6University of Washington - Bothell Campus
Bothell, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
237Business Administration and Management, General$49,00465%91%
7Seattle University
Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
226Business Administration and Management, General$46,59876%$31,90077%
8Green River College
Auburn, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
173Business/Commerce, General39%
9Bellevue College
Bellevue, WA Public · 3 feeder programs
166Business/Commerce, General36%
10City University of Seattle
Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
154Business Administration and Management, General$79,592$35,049
11Clark College
Vancouver, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
153Business/Commerce, General$40,31339%
12Walla Walla Community College
Walla Walla, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
132Business Administration and Management, General38%
13Pierce College District
Lakewood, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
131Business/Commerce, General31%
14Edmonds College
Lynnwood, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
128Business/Commerce, General29%
15Everett Community College
Everett, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
120Business/Commerce, General37%
16Tacoma Community College
Tacoma, WA Public · 3 feeder programs
117Business/Commerce, General$40,86332%
17Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
115Business Administration and Management, General$52,91969%$19,94478%
18Columbia Basin College
Pasco, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
107Business Administration and Management, General$48,41133%
19University of Washington - Tacoma Campus
Tacoma, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
104Business Administration and Management, General$49,00463%83%
20South Puget Sound Community College
Olympia, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
90Business/Commerce, General44%
21Shoreline College
Shoreline, WA Public · 3 feeder programs
86Business/Commerce, General29%
22Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
80Business Administration and Management, General$53,40265%93%
23Whitworth University
Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
67Business Administration and Management, General$47,24171%$23,51090%
24Whatcom Community College
Bellingham, WA Public · 2 feeder programs
66Business/Commerce, General36%
25Seattle Central College
Seattle, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
65Business/Commerce, General32%

All 55 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.

All schools in Washington that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Washington State UniversityPullmanPublic5903
University of Washington - Seattle CampusSeattlePublic3973
Gonzaga UniversitySpokanePrivate not-for-profit3934
Eastern Washington UniversityCheneyPublic3381
Central Washington UniversityEllensburgPublic2382
University of Washington - Bothell CampusBothellPublic2371
Seattle UniversitySeattlePrivate not-for-profit2262
Green River CollegeAuburnPublic1732
Bellevue CollegeBellevuePublic1663
City University of SeattleSeattlePrivate not-for-profit1543
Clark CollegeVancouverPublic1532
Walla Walla Community CollegeWalla WallaPublic1322
Pierce College DistrictLakewoodPublic1312
Edmonds CollegeLynnwoodPublic1282
Everett Community CollegeEverettPublic1202

What industrial production managers earn in Washington

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

Median annual in Washington
$145,210
Mean annual
$158,510
Jobs in state
4,760
What the range looks like
10th pct$112,970Median$145,21090th pct$213,930
Versus the national median
+15.2%

U.S. median $126,060. Washington pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.85×

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

Metro areas in Washington

Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA
$156,180median
40 jobs
Longview-Kelso, WA
$163,970median
100 jobs
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
$151,580median
3,400 jobs
Bellingham, WA
$150,800median
110 jobs
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA
$143,990median
80 jobs
Kennewick-Richland, WA
$148,320median
100 jobs
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
$128,410median
210 jobs
Yakima, WA
$129,990median
80 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+1.9%
Little or no change
Openings per year
17,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,600
241,900 → 246,500
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 Industrial Production Managers page.

How to become a Industrial Production Manager

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Work experience needed
5 years or more

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

SpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingMonitoringActive ListeningWriting

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 9 majors mapped to Industrial Production Managers9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 14.3501Industrial Engineering
  • 15.1501Engineering/Industrial Management
  • 51.2006Clinical and Industrial Drug Development
  • 51.2009Industrial and Physical Pharmacy and Cosmetic Sciences
  • 52.0101Business/Commerce, General
  • 52.0201Business Administration and Management, General
  • 52.0203Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management
  • 52.0205Operations Management and Supervision
  • 52.0216Science/Technology Management

Common questions

Answers for people weighing industrial production managers programs in Washington.

What degree do you need to become an Industrial Production 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 3,309 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 60.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Industrial Production Manager?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Business/Commerce, Industrial Engineering, Engineering-Related Fields, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 5,496 people a year in Washington.

How much do industrial production managers earn in Washington?+

The median is $145,210 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 15.2% above the U.S. median of $126,060. 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 industrial production managers growing?+

BLS projects a +1.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 17,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Washington?+

55 institutions in Washington 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 industrial production managers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Plant Manager, Quality Manager, Assembly Manager, Plant Supervisor, Production Manager, Maintenance Manager among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-3051.

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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