Decide if a range needs revising
Set salary-survey data beside job descriptions and current pay, proposing a new range if duties and market agree.
Career profile
Compensation and Benefits Manager
Compensation and benefits managers set pay policy and benefit offerings and manage staff applying them.
How do you split a capped raise budget? Use salary comparisons with other employers and what workers need to shape advice you can defend.
A day in the life
Review plans with the broker
Work through plan costs and vendor performance with the benefits broker before advising what stays or changes.
Walk staff through enrollment changes
Review the enrollment slide deck first, then help workers see what changed and answer questions it skips.
Rank work and mark up drafts
Choose which salary analyses and benefit problems go first, and mark up team drafts before any proposal advances.
Quick facts
Bachelor’s + experience
United States · 2025
$149,230 median
United States · May 2025
1.1% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Bachelor’s + experienceTypically a bachelor’s degree and five or more years of related work.
Pay
$149,230 medianAnnual wage for compensation and benefits managers; the hourly equivalent is $71.75.
Outlook
1.1% projected growthAbout 1,600 openings annually across the occupation, including replacement openings.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like checking whether a comparison is fair before trusting its conclusion.
- You enjoy explaining rules to people who have different concerns.
- You can make a recommendation even when every option has a drawback.
Things to weigh
- Benefits enrollment deadlines can stretch the workweek beyond 40 hours.
- A change that fits the budget may disappoint employees; you still have to hear their concerns.
Where AI may help
Analysis and database software help compare pay and plan costs.
What people still lead
Managers weigh options and explain policy recommendations to leaders.
What we can’t predict yet
How much work stays inside an employer may change as outside firms take on payroll and benefits administration.
Pay in context
Earnings
These national figures cover compensation and benefits managers as a whole, including managers who specialize in either area.
Median and spread
The median was $149,230 a year, equivalent to $71.75 an hour. The 10th and 90th percentiles were $89,160 and $256,570. These describe the wage distribution, not starting and senior salaries.
Workplace affects the comparison
Annual medians were $167,950 in professional, scientific, and technical services and $118,320 in government, excluding state and local education and hospitals.
Getting started
Build toward specialist work
- What the route involves
- Earn a bachelor’s degree and build related experience through human resources work or internships. Study finance and accounting alongside people-management subjects.
- What it can lead to
- Compensation or benefits specialist work develops the analysis and program experience used to move into management.
- What to check
- Specialist positions commonly require related experience themselves; a degree alone does not guarantee entry.
Move from related work
- What the route involves
- Build relevant experience in human resources, finance, or management.
- What it can lead to
- That background can support a move into compensation or benefits management.
- What to check
- Most positions still typically require a bachelor’s degree.
Management usually comes after several years of related work. These routes build toward it.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn the employer’s salary schedules, benefits arrangements, and staff responsibilities before proposing changes.
Lead a pay review
Bring job descriptions, salary comparisons, and promotion rules together into recommendations that hiring managers can use.
Take on complex program changes
Develop a specialty such as combining benefits programs after a merger, when different employee groups arrive with different arrangements.
Where you can work
State agencies
Established pay grades and promotion rules can constrain salary decisions. You work with recruiters and hiring managers to apply those rules consistently.
- Office
- Indoors
Large employers
You may lead compensation or benefits separately, working with specialist staff and financial officers on one side of the employee package.
- Office
- Indoors
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Create a fictional team of five employees with different salaries. Give yourself a fixed raise budget, compare equal-dollar and equal-percentage increases in a spreadsheet, and write a short recommendation. Notice whether you enjoy both checking the numbers and explaining the tradeoff.
Stay safe: Use invented salaries, not classmates’ or family members’ private pay information.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compensation and Benefits Managers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Wages: Compensation and Benefits Managers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine. 11-3111.00 — Compensation and Benefits Managers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- City of Wilmington. Compensation and Benefits Manager — Job Bulletin. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Georgia Department of Public Health. Compensation & Benefits Manager — Job Bulletin. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists. Accessed 2026-10-03.