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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

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The skill set required to manage others' work so that IT projects are completed on time and on budget is highly prized by employers. CompTIA Project+ (No. 45 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) has been freshly overhauled (a new exam is coming in the fall) and provides 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: $103,790
Median Annual Salary: $97,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 10.3 percent
Very Satisfied: 21.6 percent
Satisfied: 46.6 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 19 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 2.5 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $71,460
Median Annual Salary: $62,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 16.7 percent
Very Satisfied: 8.3 percent
Satisfied: 33.3 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 41.7 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

Other CompTIA certs are more popular outside the United States than Project+ — a striking 90 percent of the Project+ holders who participated in the survey live and work in the United States. We did, however, hear from credential holders in seven other countries: Afghanistan, Angola, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Most of the Project+ holders who participated in the survey are men (82.4 percent of those surveyed), though we did hear from a handful of female credential holders: 14.8 percent of those surveyed are women, with 2.8 percent choosing not to identify their gender. Generally speaking, the pool of credential holders is somewhat youthful, with 2.3 percent of respondents between the ages of 19 and 24 and 22.7 percent between the ages 25 and 34. The balance of respondents are more established in their careers, with 43.8 percent of those surveyed between the ages of 35 and 44, 23.4 between the ages of 45 and 54, and 7.8 percent between the ages of 55 and 64.

Nearly 90 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 (44.6 percent of those surveyed), master's degree (32 percent), associate's degree (9.4 percent), doctorate (1.6 percent), or professional degree (1.5 percent). The outliers are the 3.9 percent of respondents who rounded out their formal education by completing some level of technical training after high school, the 3.1 percent who exited the realm of formal education after getting a high school diploma, and the 3.9 percent who are currently students engaged at some level in furthering their educational pursuits.

There's a strongly positive employment outlook for Project+ holders: 90.1 percent of survey respondents are employed full-time, while 6.3 percent have part-time jobs, 0.7 percent are students, and 2.8 percent are presently out of work. Among those who have full-time jobs, most are at work either between 41 and 50 hours per week (39.8 percent of those surveyed) or for the standard 40 hours per week (41.4 percent). The rest are punching the clock either for more than 50 hours per week (8.6 percent of respondents), for between 31 and 39 hours per week (9.4 percent), or between 21 and 30 hours per week (0.8 percent).

Whether as a lingering result of the COVID-19 pandemic or for other reasons, a notable percentage of Project+ holders are spending their entire work schedule away from a traditional office, working at home either 40 hours per week (15.6 percent) or more than 40 hours per week (23.5 percent). After that, there's a little bit of everything: 7.8 percent of those surveyed work between 31 and 39 hours per week from home, 5.5 percent work between 21 and 30 hours per week from home, 12.5 percent work between 10 and 20 hours per week from home, and 35.1 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 (30.3 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (17.4 percent of respondents), managers (16.1 percent), senior managers (11.6 percent), executives (9.7 percent), rank-and-file employees (8.4 percent), or directors (6.5 percent).

A core 47.5 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 (11 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (24 percent), between 6 and 8 years (7.8 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (9.7 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: 48.1 percent
Several times a week: 28.6 percent
Several times a month: 11 percent
Occasionally: 8.4 percent
Rarely: 3.9 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 37 percent
Agree: 39.6 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15 percent
Disagree: 5.8 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.6 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 30.5 percent
Agree: 41.6 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 21.4 percent
Disagree: 5.2 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.3 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 29.9 percent
Agree: 36.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 24 percent
Disagree: 7.8 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.9 percent

PAST COMPTIA PROJECT+ DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2021

2020

2019

2017

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