As of September 01, 2026, the average hourly rate for a Sustainability Manager in the United States is $60, which translates to an annual salary of about $125,225.
However, the hourly wage can vary significantly based on several factors. Here’s a detailed look at the typical pay range per hour:
Sustainability Manager Salaries by Percentile
| Annual Salary |
Monthly Pay |
Weekly Pay |
Hourly Wage |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75th Percentile | $138,150 | $11,513 | $2,657 | $66 |
| Average | $125,225 | $10,435 | $2,408 | $60 |
| 25th Percentile | $111,329 | $9,277 | $2,141 | $54 |
A Sustainability Manager's salary isn't a fixed number. It's shaped by several important factors. Below, we'll explore how your years of experience, geographic location and company size can directly affect your earning potential.
Experience is a primary driver of a Sustainability Manager's salary. As you build your skills and take on more complex tasks, your compensation generally increases. Here's how the average salary grows at different career stages:
| Job Role | Years of Experience | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Sustainability Analyst II | 4-7 years | $102,730 |
| Sustainability Analyst III | 7+ years | $118,248 |
| Sustainability Manager | 7+ years | $125,225 |
| Sustainability Senior Manager | 7+ years | $149,084 |
| VP of Sustainability | 7+ years | $217,083 |
Demanded Skills for the Role:
| Skills | Demand Percentage |
|---|---|
| Initiative | 5.73% |
| Benchmarking | 1.31% |
| Procurement | 0.55% |
Mastering certain specialized skills can lead to a significant increase in pay. Here are examples of skills and the potential impact they can have on a Sustainability Manager's salary.
| Skill | Salary | Salary % Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Investor Relations | $133,991 | |
| Corporate Communications | $132,739 | |
| Alignment | $131,486 |
Sustainability Manager salary potential scales significantly with company size. Data shows that Enterprise companies (5,000+ employees) pay the highest average salary at around $139,944. While startup companies pay approximate $118,378.
| Company Size | Employees | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Startup | 1~50 | $118,378 |
| Growth Stage | 51~500 | $125,197 |
| Established | 501~5000 | $135,134 |
| Enterprise | 5000+ | $139,944 |
Understanding how a Sustainability Manager's annual salary breaks down can help with budgeting. Below, you can see the average hourly rate, weekly pay, and monthly pay for this role. Use the buttons to switch between different pay periods.
| Annual Salary | Monthly Pay | Weekly Pay | Hourly Wage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75th Percentile | $138,150 | $11,513 | $2,657 | $66 |
| Average | $125,225 | $10,435 | $2,408 | $60 |
| 25th Percentile | $111,329 | $9,277 | $2,141 | $54 |
Salaries for a Sustainability Manager can change over time, reflecting shifts in market demand and the overall economy. The median salary decreased from $99,072 in 2023 to around $97,339 in 2025, reflecting changes in demand, location, experience, and the wider economy. For a detailed analysis of Sustainability Manager salary trends, .
| Year | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 2022 | View More |
| 2023 | $99,072 |
| 2024 | $98,459 |
| 2025 | $97,339 |
| 2026 |
View More
|
| 2027 |
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|
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Manages an organization's sustainability programs. Leads research and analysis used to develop corporate sustainability strategies to ensure that business practices, products, and services are environmentally friendly and compliant with government rules and regulations. Collaborates with other leaders to implement processes and technologies that reduce the organization's carbon footprint. Promotes and explains the organization's sustainability philosophy to internal and external audiences. Requires a bachelor's degree. Typically reports to a director. Manages subordinate staff in the day-to-day performance of their jobs. True first level manager. Ensures that project/department milestones/goals are met and adhering to approved budgets. Has full authority for personnel actions. Typically requires 5 years experience in the related area as an individual contributor. 1 - 3 years supervisory experience may be required. Extensive knowledge of the function and department processes.
Specify the abilities and skills that a person needs in order to carry out the specified job duties. Each competency has five to ten behavioral assertions that can be observed, each with a corresponding performance level (from one to five) that is required for a particular job.
Initiative: Taking decisive action and initiating plans independently to address problems, improve professional life, and achieve goals.
Benchmarking: Benchmarking is the practice of comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost. Benchmarking is used to measure performance using a specific indicator (cost per unit of measure, productivity per unit of measure, cycle time of x per unit of measure or defects per unit of measure) resulting in a metric of performance that is then compared to others. Also referred to as "best practice benchmarking" or "process benchmarking", this process is used in management in which organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best-practice companies' processes, usually within a peer group defined for the purposes of comparison. This then allows organizations to develop plans on how to make improvements or adapt specific best practices, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance. Benchmarking may be a one-off event, but is often treated as a continuous process in which organizations continually seek to improve their practices.
Procurement: Procurement is the process of finding and agreeing to terms, and acquiring goods, services, or works from an external source, often via a tendering or competitive bidding process. Procurement is used to ensure the buyer receives goods, services, or works at the best possible price when aspects such as quality, quantity, time, and location are compared. Corporations and public bodies often define processes intended to promote fair and open competition for their business while minimizing risks such as exposure to fraud and collusion. Almost all purchasing decisions include factors such as delivery and handling, marginal benefit, and price fluctuations. Procurement generally involves making buying decisions under conditions of scarcity. If sound data is available, it is good practice to make use of economic analysis methods such as cost-benefit analysis or cost-utility analysis.
Salary.com salary estimates, histograms, trends, and comparisons are derived from both employer job postings and third-party data sources. We also provide multiple percentiles of salary information for your reference, click here to know Why the Salary Midpoint Formula Is Crucial to Getting Pay Equity Right. With more online, real-time compensation data than any other website, Salary.com helps you determine your exact pay target.
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