Rank open repair requests
With the maintenance crew, move a new leak above routine jobs and tell occupants when access changes.
Career profile
Facilities Manager
Facilities managers keep buildings running by arranging repairs, handling budgets and leading maintenance staff.
Machines and building systems break down, and you choose which fix comes first. You also plan how people keep using the space during repairs.
A day in the life
Inspect an outside firm's work
Walk through a contractor's finished job, measure it against the contract, and request fixes where it falls short.
Plan which machines to replace
Price out replacing aging equipment against the budget, then build a spreadsheet arguing which purchases come first.
Talk through a remodel layout
Study the remodel's floor plan with the designers and discuss whether the proposed rooms and equipment suit occupants.
Quick facts
Degree + experience, typically
United States · 2025
$106,660/year
United States · May 2025
4.6% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Degree + experience, typicallyA bachelor's degree and related experience are typical; some employers accept other preparation.
Pay
$106,660/yearNational median; equivalent to $51.28/hour.
Outlook
4.6% projected growthAbout 14,200 openings annually, on average, during 2025–2035.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like deciding what needs attention first.
- You want to understand buildings and also enjoy organizing people's work.
- You notice small problems and follow through until they are resolved.
Things to weigh
- On-call problems can interrupt evenings or weekends.
- You must balance repair needs, available money, and people who want their space back in service.
Where AI may help
In buildings with connected energy software, equipment data can flag performance problems and trigger work orders.
What people still lead
You still connect an alert to action: choose who will investigate, coordinate the response, and check that the issue is resolved.
What we can’t predict yet
How far software can take over maintenance planning depends on reliable equipment data and connections between systems. Some buildings will still need much more manual investigation.
Pay in context
Earnings
The median describes the middle of employee wages, not starting pay.
The national spread
The lowest-paid 10% earned below $64,480 annually; the highest-paid 10% earned above $176,120. These are wage percentiles, not career stages.
Workplace type matters
Annual medians were $129,620 in manufacturing, $100,780 in educational services, and $98,190 in healthcare and social assistance.
Openings beyond new jobs
The projection includes about 14,200 openings per year, compared with about 7,600 net additional jobs across the whole decade. Openings also reflect workers leaving the occupation.
Getting started
Combine college with building experience
- What the route involves
- Study business or a related field, then build experience in operations, project management, or maintenance.
- What it can lead to
- This matches the typical degree-and-experience preparation for facilities management.
- What to check
- A degree alone does not replace evidence that you can lead people and manage work.
Build from maintenance into supervision
- What the route involves
- Develop building-maintenance skills, then take on crew supervision and progressively larger responsibilities.
- What it can lead to
- Some university facilities roles accept a high school diploma with substantial technical and supervisory experience.
- What to check
- Such roles can require six years of experience and journeyman-level trade skills. This is a longer experience route, not immediate entry from school.
This is usually a job you reach through related work experience.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Learn your buildings
Get familiar with equipment records, open work orders, and the people who report problems. Learn how your site schedules and tracks repairs.
Prevent repeat problems
Take ownership of a preventive maintenance program. Check completed repairs and use what you find to improve the next round of work.
Lead a wider operation
Aim toward an assistant director role overseeing more teams, or deepen your expertise in planning major equipment upgrades.
Where you can work
University building maintenance
Coordinate trades crews across academic and residential buildings. You move between office planning and site checks, with emergency calls when essential services fail.
- Office
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- On call
Campus recreation facilities
Pools and playing fields add specialized equipment and outdoor upkeep. You may supervise student employees and arrange maintenance around events, evenings, and weekends.
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- Office
- On call
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Make a pretend work-order list for a school building: a leaking roof, a flickering classroom light, and a request to repaint a hallway. Rank them, list the questions you would ask before scheduling work, and draft a short update for building users. Notice whether you enjoy making priorities and explaining them.
Stay safe: Keep this a paper exercise; do not inspect roofs or touch electrical equipment.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. 11-3013.00 — Facilities Managers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Administrative Services and Facilities Managers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Missouri State University. 8877 Facilities Manager. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Oregon State University. Facility Maintenance Manager. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Department of Energy. Energy Management Information System Capabilities. Accessed 2026-10-03.