Salary Survey Extra is a series of periodic dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our most recent Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

IT project management is a highly employable job skill in the modern IT sphere. CompTIA Project+ (No. 62 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) doesn't have the name-brand marketability that some project management credentials do, but it is a solid point of entry to a rapidly expanding field.

Here what the salary picture looks like for Project+ holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $104,980
Median Annual Salary: $107,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 8.8 percent
Very Satisfied: 28 percent
Satisfied: 38.2 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 19.1 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 5.9 percent

CompTIA's certification program does have global reach, but all but a handful of the Project+ holders that we heard from live and work in the United States. Most of them are also men (91.4 percent of those surveyed), though we did hear from a handful of female credential holders. Generally speaking, the pool of credential holders is somewhat youthful, with�11.8 percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34 and 36.8 percent between the ages of 35 and 44. That leaves a bit more than half of those surveyed cruising toward retirement, either between the ages of 45 and 54 (30.9 percent), between the ages of 55 and 64 (19.1 percent) or between the ages of 65 and 74 (1.4 percent).

Almost exactly 85 percent of Project+ holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most Project+ holders is either a bachelor's degree (50 percent of those surveyed), master's degree (30.9 percent), associate's degree (2.9 percent), or doctorate (1.5 percent). The outliers are the 5.8 percent of respondents who rounded out their formal education by completing some level of technical training after high school, the 1.5 percent who exited the realm of formal education after getting a high school diploma, and the 7.4 percent who are currently students engaged at some level in furthering their educational pursuits.

There's a strongly positive employment outlook for Project+ holders: 97.1 percent of survey respondents are employed full-time, while just 2.9 percent are currently enjoying some form of sabbatical. Among those who have full-time jobs, most are at work either between 41 and 50 hours per week (50 percent of those surveyed) or for the standard 40 hours per week (44.1 percent). The rest are punching the clock for more than 50 hours per week (5.9 percent of respondents).

COVID-19 flipped the script for a notable percentage of Project+ holders who are spending their entire work schedule away from a traditional office, working at home either 40 hours per week (23.5 percent) or more than 40 hours per week (32.3 percent). After that, there's a little bit of everything: 3 percent of those surveyed work between 31 and 39 hours per week from home, 13.2 percent work between 21 and 30 hours per week from home, 8.9 percent work between 10 and 20 hours per week from home, and 19.1 percent work fewer than 10 hours per week from home.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of Project+ holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (28.6 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (18.6 percent of respondents), managers (17.1 percent), rank-and-file employees (12.9 percent), directors (10 percent), senior managers (8.6 percent), or executives (4.2 percent).

A core 58.6 percent of the Project+ holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role the directly utilizes their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (8.5 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (15.7 percent), between 6 and 8 years (8.6 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (also 8.6 percent).

Finally, here's the view of Project+ holders on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 45.8 percent
Several times a week: 27.1 percent
Several times a month: 11.4 percent
Occasionally: 11.4 percent
Rarely: 4.3 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 41.5 percent
Agree: 34.3 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15.7 percent
Disagree: 7.1 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.4 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 25.7 percent
Agree: 47.1 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 22.9 percent
Disagree: 1.4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.9 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 24.4 percent
Agree: 37.1 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 31.4 percent
Disagree: 5.7 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.4 percent

PAST COMPTIA PROJECT+ DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2020

2019

2017