Wisconsin·Management Occupations·SOC 11-2022

Best Sales Manager programs in Wisconsin, ranked by enrollment

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

53 schools in Wisconsin run programs that feed this job, graduating 5,924 people a year. The job pays a median of $134,870 in Wisconsin across about 10,480 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledSales ManagerSales DirectorDistrict Sales ManagerSales VP (Sales Vice President)Zone ManagerExport ManagerAccount ManagerArea Supervisor
Graduates / yr
5,924
in Wisconsin
Median pay · Wisconsin
$134,870
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
10,480
people employed
Schools
53
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
54%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,965
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Wisconsin that lead to this job

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

3 programs in Wisconsin that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Wisconsin (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 Wisconsin page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.0201In Wisconsin
3,439
58.1%
48$43,506$25,000
2
CIP 52.1401In Wisconsin
1,491
25.2%
28$44,670$24,250
3
CIP 52.0101In Wisconsin
994
16.8%
11$44,700$24,000

Top 25 schools in Wisconsin

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 41 of the 53 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
Whitewater, WI Public · 3 feeder programs
649Business/Commerce, General$49,96559%86%
2University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI Public · 3 feeder programs
593Business/Commerce, General90%45%
3University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
Eau Claire, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
431Business Administration and Management, General$46,25464%82%
4University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
358Marketing/Marketing Management, General$45,96649%91%
5University of Wisconsin - Parkside
Kenosha, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
345Business Administration and Management, General40%75%
6Chippewa Valley Technical College
Eau Claire, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
340Business Administration and Management, General$39,34450%
7University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
La Crosse, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
295Marketing/Marketing Management, General$46,43271%76%
8Milwaukee Area Technical College
Milwaukee, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
270Business Administration and Management, General$43,43725%
9University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Stevens Point, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
192Business Administration and Management, General$47,45451%92%
10Fox Valley Technical College
Appleton, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
191Business Administration and Management, General$39,33765%
11University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Green Bay, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
188Business Administration and Management, General$48,70948%89%
12Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
183Business Administration and Management, General$63,28583%$25,37681%
13Concordia University - Wisconsin
Mequon, WI Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
169Business Administration and Management, General$56,34768%$24,40978%
14University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
Oshkosh, WI Public · 3 feeder programs
143Business Administration and Management, General$57,80946%87%
15University of Wisconsin - River Falls
River Falls, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
130Business Administration and Management, General$48,57057%82%
16Madison Area Technical College
Madison, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
125Business Administration and Management, General$43,08529%
17University of Wisconsin - Stout
Menomonie, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
98Business Administration and Management, General$54,82655%88%
18Carthage College
Kenosha, WI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
87Business Administration and Management, General$53,55564%$22,84487%
19Saint Norbert College
De Pere, WI Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
80Business/Commerce, General$44,82771%$23,31986%
20University of Wisconsin - Platteville
Platteville, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
73Business Administration and Management, General$51,29056%89%
21Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
Green Bay, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
71Business Administration and Management, General$40,09151%
22Gateway Technical College
Kenosha, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
67Business Administration and Management, General$40,42651%
23University of Wisconsin - Superior
Superior, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
64Business Administration and Management, General$45,99942%93%
24Waukesha County Technical College
Pewaukee, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
57Business Administration and Management, General$44,01644%
25Western Technical College
La Crosse, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
56Business Administration and Management, General$40,54834%

All 53 schools in Wisconsin

Every school in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Wisconsin - WhitewaterWhitewaterPublic6493
University of Wisconsin - MadisonMadisonPublic5933
University of Wisconsin - Eau ClaireEau ClairePublic4312
University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeMilwaukeePublic3582
University of Wisconsin - ParksideKenoshaPublic3452
Chippewa Valley Technical CollegeEau ClairePublic3402
University of Wisconsin - La CrosseLa CrossePublic2952
Milwaukee Area Technical CollegeMilwaukeePublic2702
University of Wisconsin - Stevens PointStevens PointPublic1922
Fox Valley Technical CollegeAppletonPublic1912
University of Wisconsin - Green BayGreen BayPublic1882
Marquette UniversityMilwaukeePrivate not-for-profit1832
Concordia University - WisconsinMequonPrivate not-for-profit1693
University of Wisconsin - OshkoshOshkoshPublic1433
University of Wisconsin - River FallsRiver FallsPublic1302

What sales managers earn in Wisconsin

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

Median annual in Wisconsin
$134,870
Mean annual
$149,600
Jobs in state
10,480
What the range looks like
10th pct$76,330Median$134,87090th pct$222,110
Versus the national median
-9.0%

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

Job concentration
0.87×

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

Metro areas in Wisconsin

Madison, WI
$146,380median
1,660 jobs
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
$144,560median
3,240 jobs
Kenosha, WI
$145,180median
200 jobs
Appleton, WI
$138,850median
420 jobs
Sheboygan, WI
$133,440median
170 jobs
Janesville-Beloit, WI
$129,940median
200 jobs
Fond du Lac, WI
$125,650median
150 jobs
Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI
$132,230median
240 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 Wisconsin

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 Wisconsin.

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 3,439 degrees in Wisconsin in 2024-25, 58.1% 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 5,924 people a year in Wisconsin.

How much do sales managers earn in Wisconsin?+

The median is $134,870 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.0% 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 Wisconsin?+

53 institutions in Wisconsin 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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