Lodging Managers: Salary Overview
Lodging managers work at a motel, hotel, or another accommodation establishment and ensure that the place is run efficiently and guests have a pleasant experience.
Their job responsibilities include inspecting guest rooms, public areas, and hotel grounds, ensuring that the establishment’s standards are met, answering questions from guests regarding the company’s policies and services, keeping track of the facility’s earnings, coordinating front-office activities, monitoring staff performance, and setting room rates.
Some lodging managers are also responsible for supervising the establishment’s marketing campaigns.
Larger hotels typically hire more lodging managers, each one having specific job descriptions.
For example, general managers are responsible for overseeing the entire activity of the lodging facility while revenue managers monitor room sales, reservations, and other financial aspects.
Front-office managers are responsible for coordinating reservations and room assignments and supervise the hotel staff.
The median annual wage for lodging managers was $54,430 as of May 2019, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This means that half the workers in this occupation earned less while half earned more.
Salaries for lodging managers vary depending on their experience, level of education, skills, but also on the size of the establishment and the region.
For example, experienced lodging managers who work for a five-star hotel will typically earn more than a manager who works for a small bed and breakfast.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the lowest 10 percent earned less than $31,380 while the highest 10 percent made more than $105,720 per year.
If you want to have better chances at finding employment as a lodging manager in a full-service hotel chain that offers a higher salary you should earn a bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree from a program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration.
The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute offers a Hospitality and Tourism Management Program that leads to professional certification.
AHLEI is also offering a Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics for college students and working professionals.
Lodging Managers Salary by Industry
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, lodging managers held about 52,600 jobs in the United States in 2018, the majority of them working in the field of travel accommodation.
About 28 percent of all lodging managers were self-employed and 3 percent worked for recreational vehicle parks and recreational camps.
The report published by BLS shows that the average annual wage for lodging managers who worked in the travel accommodation sector was $62,930 per year.
Lodging managers who were employed by RV parks and recreational camps earned, on average, $56,960 per year.
The average annual wage was significantly higher for lodging managers who worked in the field of management of companies and enterprises.
This sector includes establishments that hold securities for companies and establishments that administer and manage companies.
In this industry, the average annual wage for lodging managers was $90,270.
However, this field hired only 660 lodging managers as of May 2019, and finding employment in a better-paid position may require a few years of experience as a lodging manager in a different sector.
The average annual salary was $66,760 for lodging managers who worked in the field of office administrative services and $54,020 for those employed by rooming and boarding houses.
Other fields that offered average annual salaries that were significantly higher were civic and social organizations and general medical and surgical hospitals.
The average annual wage was $96,170 for lodging managers employed by civic and social organizations and $89,570 for those employed in hospitals.
Job openings in these higher-paying sectors are scarce; for example, civic and social organizations had only 40 lodging managers on their payroll while general medical and surgical hospitals hired only 60 lodging managers.
If you want to have access to a higher-paying job you will typically need a bachelor’s degree in business or a related field, good communication and leadership skills, and several years of experience in a related position.
* Based on information from the May 2021 salary report from the BLS. The figures represent accumulated data for all states of employment for Lodging Managers. BLS data represents averages and medians for workers at all levels of education and experience. This data doesn't represent starting salaries.
* Employment conditions in your area may vary.