Top Metros for Project Management Specialists: New York Leads, Bay Area Pays the Most

Across the top metros, LaborCove’s data shows that high salaries, large employment counts, and strong overall Geography Scores do not always align. New York-Newark-Jersey City ranks first with the largest employment count and an above-national median salary, while San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara posts the highest median salary in the top 10 but ranks fifth overall. The rankings also highlight that several metros—such as Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue—combine median salaries notably above the national figure with mid-range employment counts in this group. Together, these patterns underscore that LaborCove’s metro results reflect a balance of salary, employment, and other scored factors rather than a single metric.

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ holds the #1 LaborCove metro ranking for project management specialists with a Geography Score of 84.78. This is the highest score among the top 10 metros supplied here. New York also has the largest employment count in this group, at 68,910 project management specialists, matching the stated largest employment market figure of 68,910 across the 389 geographies. Its median salary of $126,660 is higher than the national median of $102,320. Taken together, New York’s top rank, high Geography Score, and combination of above-national median pay and the largest employment count distinguish it from the other metros in LaborCove’s top 10 list for this occupation.

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ranks #2 with a LaborCove Geography Score of 66.62. Its median salary of $127,030 is higher than both New York’s $126,660 and the national median of $102,320. Washington’s employment count of 38,230 is smaller than New York’s 68,910. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA holds the #3 rank with a Geography Score of 65.58 and a median salary of $135,040, which is higher than Washington’s $127,030 and New York’s $126,660. Its employment count of 20,770 is smaller than both Washington’s 38,230 and New York’s 68,910. These two metros demonstrate that LaborCove’s top-ranked areas can pair salaries well above the national median with employment levels that sit below New York’s very large employment count while still ranking near the top on Geography Score.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ranks #4 with a Geography Score of 64.13. Its median salary of $130,380 is higher than New York’s $126,660, Washington’s $127,030, and the national median of $102,320. Seattle’s employment count of 26,910 is smaller than New York’s 68,910 and smaller than Washington’s 38,230. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ranks #5 with a Geography Score of 63.16 but has the highest median salary in the top 10 at $135,120. This salary is higher than San Francisco’s $135,040, Seattle’s $130,380, Washington’s $127,030, New York’s $126,660, and the national median of $102,320. San Jose’s employment count of 10,300 is smaller than New York’s 68,910, Washington’s 38,230, San Francisco’s 20,770, and Seattle’s 26,910. The fact that San Jose has the highest median salary among these metros yet ranks fifth on Geography Score illustrates that the LaborCove rankings do not simply follow pay levels, and that other scored factors help determine the overall order.

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA holds the #6 rank with a Geography Score of 61.05. Its employment count of 38,540 is larger than Washington’s 38,230 and larger than San Francisco’s 20,770. Los Angeles has a median salary of $108,310, which is higher than the national median of $102,320 but lower than New York’s $126,660, Washington’s $127,030, San Francisco’s $135,040, Seattle’s $130,380, and San Jose’s $135,120. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX ranks #7 with a Geography Score of 57.60 and employment of 43,120, which is larger than Washington’s 38,230 and larger than Los Angeles’s 38,540. Dallas has a median salary of $98,900, which is lower than the national median of $102,320 and lower than the median salaries in New York, Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, San Jose, and Los Angeles. These two metros highlight that higher employment counts within the top 10 can coincide with median salaries that are closer to, or below, the national benchmark, even as they retain strong positions in the LaborCove ranking.

Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is ranked #8 with a Geography Score of 55.13. Its median salary of $116,740 is higher than the national median of $102,320 and higher than Los Angeles’s $108,310 and Dallas’s $98,900. Denver’s employment count of 20,710 is smaller than Dallas’s 43,120, Los Angeles’s 38,540, and Washington’s 38,230. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH ranks #9 with a Geography Score of 54.85. Its median salary of $114,990 is higher than the national median of $102,320 and higher than Los Angeles’s $108,310, Dallas’s $98,900, and Houston’s $99,510. Boston’s employment count of 18,840 is smaller than Denver’s 20,710, Dallas’s 43,120, Los Angeles’s 38,540, Washington’s 38,230, New York’s 68,910, San Francisco’s 20,770, and Seattle’s 26,910. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX completes the top 10 at rank #10 with a Geography Score of 53.41. Its median salary of $99,510 is lower than the national median of $102,320 and lower than New York, Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles, Denver, and Boston. Houston’s employment count of 35,550 is larger than Denver’s 20,710 and larger than Boston’s 18,840 but smaller than Dallas’s 43,120 and New York’s 68,910. These metros illustrate how different combinations of above- or below-national salaries and varying employment counts can still place within LaborCove’s top 10 once the full Geography Score is applied.

LaborCove builds these metro rankings using authoritative labor‑market data combined with its own Geography Score methodology. For project management specialists (occupation 13-1082), the national reference values used here are a median annual salary of $102,320, employment of 1,066,670, and a projected national employment growth rate of 5.6%. Occupational employment and wage statistics for geographies refer to observations from May 2025. For each metropolitan area, LaborCove compiles the supplied median annual salary and employment, then calculates a LaborCove Geography Score that supports the ranking among the 389 available geographies. Higher scores indicate that a metro ranks more strongly in LaborCove’s framework, but the score does not map directly to any single underlying measure. Because the Geography Score combines multiple inputs, a metro with the highest salary or the largest employment count does not automatically receive the top rank. Users should view these results as structured labor‑market comparisons and interpret them in light of their own priorities, such as how they weigh higher salary versus a larger employment count. Projected employment growth cited in this article is a national projection for project management specialists as an occupation. It is not a forecast for any individual state or metro area, and it should not be used to infer local hiring trends or geographic growth rates.