Sales representative salary in the US
What sales representatives are paid in the US, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.
Median annual pay
$72,080
Middle half earn
$50,470 to $99,640
People in this job, US
1,238,190
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Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, national, annual pay, May 2025
- 10th percentile
- $39,090
- 25th percentile
- $50,470
- Median
- $72,080
- 75th percentile
- $99,640
- 90th percentile
- $137,550
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 41-4012. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.
At a glance
What sales representatives earn across the US
- The highest-paying large metros are San Jose, CA ($103,670), San Francisco, CA ($93,100), Seattle, WA ($82,260).
- At the other end are San Juan, PR ($36,160), Jacksonville, FL ($61,160), Orlando, FL ($61,410): the top metro's median is 187% higher than the lowest.
- 30 of the 50 metros listed below pay a median above the national figure.
- About 1,238,190 people are employed in this occupation across the US.
- Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 3.5 times the 10th.
Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.
By metro
Sales representative pay by metro
Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.
- San Jose, CA$103,670
- San Francisco, CA$93,100
- Seattle, WA$82,260
- New York, NY$81,140
- Denver, CO$81,060
- Boston, MA$79,670
- Providence, RI$78,480
- Minneapolis, MN$78,470
- Hartford, CT$78,000
- Portland, OR$77,900
- Detroit, MI$77,870
- Philadelphia, PA$76,580
- San Diego, CA$76,100
- Cleveland, OH$76,020
- Cincinnati, OH$75,950
- Chicago, IL$75,350
- Sacramento, CA$75,250
- Buffalo, NY$75,030
- Phoenix, AZ$74,790
- Washington, DC$74,730
- Los Angeles, CA$74,490
- Austin, TX$74,310
- Indianapolis, IN$74,000
- Milwaukee, WI$73,880
- Baltimore, MD$73,080
- Houston, TX$73,030
- Charlotte, NC$72,500
- Raleigh, NC$72,220
- Grand Rapids, MI$72,170
- Riverside, CA$72,100
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY$70,800
- Las Vegas, NV$68,150
- Columbus, OH$67,410
- Kansas City, MO$66,250
- Atlanta, GA$64,990
- Dallas, TX$64,940
- St. Louis, MO$64,590
- Oklahoma City, OK$63,920
- Nashville, TN$63,800
- Pittsburgh, PA$63,270
- Richmond, VA$63,180
- Salt Lake City, UT$62,560
- Miami, FL$62,400
- San Antonio, TX$62,110
- Tampa, FL$62,000
- Virginia Beach, VA$61,780
- Memphis, TN$61,430
- Orlando, FL$61,410
- Jacksonville, FL$61,160
- San Juan, PR$36,160
Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Skills
What employers look for in a sales representative
The skills our sales representative resume example leads with, written for US employers.
- New business development
- Pipeline management
- Prospecting and cold outreach
- Discovery calls
- Solution selling
- Negotiation and closing
- Account management
- Territory planning
- Forecasting accuracy
- Salesforce
See the full sales representative resume example, with bullets and keywords.
Negotiating
Using these numbers
Below $50,470 puts you in the bottom quarter for sales representatives in the US. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.
The median, $72,080, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.
Asking for $99,640 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.
Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.
About the numbers
What these figures are
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.
They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living.
Questions
Questions about sales representative pay in the US
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