2027 Salary Guide · Sales & Customer Success
A territory manager's pay is benchmarked here against technical and scientific sales representatives, the BLS occupation for people who sell equipment, instruments, drugs and other technical goods to businesses. Its median was $104,920 in May 2025, about $111,500 for 2027. Territory managers typically own a region's results rather than a list of accounts, so the title usually sits in the top half of the range, from the median up to $200,440.
Career path
BLS has no data by title or tenure. These stages place common steps on the BLS percentiles for technical sales reps.
About $53,000 to $75,000 (10th to 25th percentile)
Supports a senior rep, handles quotes and smaller accounts and learns the product line.
About $75,000 to $105,000 (25th to 50th percentile)
Carries a quota for a set of accounts or a smaller geography.
About $105,000 to $158,000 (50th to 75th percentile)
Owns a geography's results, plans account coverage and works with distributors and with clinical or engineering contacts at customers.
About $158,000 to $200,000+ (75th to 90th percentile)
The largest or most strategic territories. The usual next step is regional sales manager, where the BLS median for sales managers is $148,270, below this band, so moving into management is not always a raise.
Local pay
Denver's median of $136,100 is the highest among the 29 metros, about $54,750 above Buffalo ($81,350), the lowest. Dallas has the most technical sales reps, about 13,400. Austin's concentration of these reps is more than three times the national rate, yet its median, $83,170, is near the bottom of the list.
| Metro area | Median | 10th – 90th | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | $136,100 +30% | $77,300 – $214,920 | 3,110 |
| New York City | $133,690 +27% | $73,440 – $226,420 | 7,800 |
| San Francisco Bay Area | $130,710 +25% | $76,190 – $223,400 | 3,950 |
| Seattle | $129,550 +23% | $61,750 – $217,690 | 7,910 |
| Detroit | $129,070 +23% | $60,910 – $203,270 | 3,950 |
| Atlanta | $126,330 +20% | $56,950 – $211,910 | 3,860 |
| San Diego | $125,770 +20% | $57,130 – $207,750 | 1,710 |
| Charlotte | $124,370 +19% | $58,860 – $215,660 | 2,520 |
| Portland | $123,810 +18% | $59,770 – $210,380 | 2,320 |
| Boston | $122,550 +17% | $61,560 – $199,570 | 8,670 |
| Metro area | Median | 10th – 90th | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | $121,180 +15% | $59,010 – $189,520 | 3,620 |
| Washington, DC | $120,140 +15% | $54,990 – $211,590 | 4,070 |
| Albany | $113,970 +9% | $63,700 – $178,520 | 340 |
| Chicago | $112,150 +7% | $56,220 – $196,950 | 5,510 |
| Los Angeles | $107,020 +2% | $50,310 – $198,820 | 6,450 |
| Miami | $106,970 +2% | $40,910 – $210,800 | 4,730 |
| Providence | $103,320 -2% | $49,100 – $176,550 | 980 |
| Raleigh | $102,260 -3% | $58,640 – $205,200 | 3,550 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | $101,940 -3% | $57,260 – $177,780 | 3,550 |
| Phoenix | $101,030 -4% | $48,950 – $188,520 | 7,150 |
| Houston | $100,980 -4% | $52,830 – $186,190 | 7,800 |
| Nashville | $99,600 -5% | $49,810 – $199,760 | 2,890 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $99,270 -5% | $54,720 – $193,710 | 13,400 |
| Pittsburgh | $99,210 -5% | $47,310 – $183,940 | 990 |
| Tampa | $96,840 -8% | $43,810 – $194,370 | 2,780 |
| Hartford | $94,620 -10% | $58,120 – $192,130 | 880 |
| Baltimore | $88,220 -16% | $47,800 – $175,720 | 2,950 |
| Austin | $83,170 -21% | $50,620 – $173,490 | 8,620 |
| Buffalo | $81,350 -22% | $60,580 – $166,610 | 450 |
BLS metro estimates, May 2025. Percent compares the metro median with the national median. "Jobs" is BLS estimated employment in the metro; blank where BLS does not publish it.
Pay distribution
The full bar covers all technical and scientific sales reps; the shaded band, median to 90th percentile, is where most territory managers fall. BLS does not publish figures for the Territory Manager title itself. Commissions are counted in these figures, nonproduction bonuses are not.
Typical for the Territory Manager title: $104,920 to $200,440 (50th to 90th percentile of Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products)
| Percentile | BLS, May 2025 | 2027 planning estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $52,600 | $56,000 |
| 25th percentile | $75,030 | $80,000 |
| Median | $104,920 | $111,500 |
| 75th percentile | $158,160 | $168,000 |
| 90th percentile | $200,440 | $213,000 |
What moves pay
BLS reports a median of $133,690 for technical reps at nondurable-goods wholesalers, the industry group that includes drug wholesalers, against $99,920 at professional and commercial equipment wholesalers, which include medical equipment distributors.
Denver ($136,100), New York ($133,690) and the Bay Area ($130,710) lead the 29 metros. A territory covering Buffalo or Austin is priced from a median closer to $82,000.
BLS says most employers pay these reps a salary plus commission or a salary plus bonus, with bonuses tied to individual, district or company results.
BLS says reps selling scientific or technical products typically need a bachelor's degree, sometimes in a related field such as biology or agriculture.
Outlook
BLS projects slower than average growth for technical sales reps from 2025 to 2035, on a base of about 292,000 jobs. Most of the roughly 23,600 openings a year will come from turnover rather than new territories.
BLS Employment Projections via O*NET OnLine. Projections cover Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products as a whole.
By industry
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025.
| Industry | Share of jobs | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers | 29% | $99,920 |
| Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods | 19% | $133,690 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 12% | $108,100 |
| Manufacturing | 11% | $106,650 |
| Wholesale trade agents and brokers | 5% | $118,990 |
All industries: $104,920. A territory manager selling non-technical goods, such as consumer products or building supplies, is better benchmarked against the non-technical sales rep median of $72,080.
Compare
At the median, technical reps earn about $32,840 more than non-technical sales reps and about $19,980 less than sales engineers. Sales managers earn about $43,350 more.
| Role | BLS median | 2027 estimate | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Territory Manager | $104,920 | $111,500 | Slower than average |
| Sales Representative | $72,080 | $76,500 | Decline |
| Sales Engineer | $124,900 | $133,000 | Average |
| Regional Sales Manager | $148,270 | $157,500 | Faster than average |
FAQ
BLS does not track the title, but territory managers selling technical products are counted as technical and scientific sales reps, whose median was $104,920 in May 2025. Territory managers usually fall between that median and the 90th percentile, $200,440. The 2027 planning median for the occupation is about $111,500.
Pay by product is not published by BLS, but pay by industry is. Technical reps at nondurable-goods wholesalers, the group that includes drug wholesalers, had a median of $133,690 in May 2025. Those at professional and commercial equipment wholesalers, which include medical equipment, had $99,920, and those employed by manufacturers $106,650.
Usually both. BLS says most employers pay these reps a salary plus commission or a salary plus bonus, with commission a percentage of sales and bonuses based on individual, district or company results. BLS wage figures include commissions, so the percentiles here reflect commission earned, though not nonproduction bonuses.
It usually means a larger or more independent territory. In BLS data the bigger pay difference is product type: technical sales reps earn a median $32,840 higher than reps selling non-technical goods. A territory manager in consumer goods is closer to the non-technical median of $72,080 than to the figures on this page.
For technical or scientific products, BLS says a bachelor's degree is typically needed, sometimes in a field such as biology or agriculture. Among O*NET survey respondents for the occupation, 39% of respondents said new hires need a bachelor's degree. Non-technical territories, BLS says, can often be entered with a high school diploma.
Careerscape recruiters specialize by industry and send pre-screened shortlists for direct-hire and contract-to-hire territory roles. Job seekers never pay a fee.
How can we help?
We got it!
A recruiter will reach out shortly.
Application Submitted!
Thank you for applying. We'll review your application and get back to you soon.