Marketing Manager and Sales Professional

52.14 Marketing · SOC 11-2021

⚠⚠⚠ $166,790, among the highest medians of any bachelor's-entry occupation on this site — beside computer and information systems management at $175,140 and computer hardware engineering at $161,740 — and 80% of employers report a bachelor's rather than a master's. ⚠⚠ The way in is the other half of this page: market research and marketing specialist roles number 941,700 with 87,200 openings a year, and sales representatives 1,571,400 with 123,400.

Licensure and accreditation

⚠⚠ NOTHING HERE IS LICENSED, NO MAJOR IS REQUIRED, AND THE MASTER'S IS NOT WHAT PROMOTES YOU. O*NET's employer data for marketing managers: 80% bachelor's, 12% high school diploma, 6% master's. ⚠ Compare market research analysts and marketing specialists — a more junior, more analytical role — at 70% bachelor's and 30% MASTER'S. ⚠⚠⚠ The graduate degree is associated with the specialist track, not the management one. If you want it, want it for the analytics. ⚠⚠ THE ENTRANT DATA SAYS THE SAME THING ABOUT THE MAJOR. Census ACS microdata (2024) on the undergraduate fields held by marketing managers: BUSINESS 175,070, COMMUNICATIONS 88,800, SOCIAL SCIENCES 38,529. ⚠ Communications at half of business is a substantial and underadvertised second feeder. Attainment: bachelor's 354,402, graduate degree 144,540, and ⚠⚠ SOME COLLEGE AND NO DEGREE 51,488 — roughly one marketing manager in nine reached the job without finishing a degree, which is unusual at this median. ⚠ Note the two sources disagree in a legible way: employers say 6% need a master's, while 144,540 managers hold a graduate degree. Employers report what is REQUIRED; the census records what people HOLD. Both are true.

⚠⚠⚠ The ladder, and the top of it is reached on a bachelor's

Role	SOC	2025 median	Employed	Openings/yr	Growth 2024–34	Entry
Sales representative — non-technical	41-4012	$72,080	1,571,400	✅ 123,400	⚠ 0%	high school
✅ Sales representative — technical and scientific	41-4011	✅ $104,920	✅ bachelor's
Market research analyst / marketing specialist	13-1161	$78,760	941,700	✅ 87,200	✅ much faster (7%+)	70% bachelor's, 30% master's
✅✅ Marketing manager	11-2021	✅✅ $166,790	407,000	34,300	✅ much faster (7%+)	⚠ 80% bachelor's, 6% master's

⚠⚠⚠ $166,790 is among the highest medians of any bachelor's-entry occupation on this site — beside computer and information systems management at $175,140 and computer hardware engineering at $161,740 — and it is reached with a bachelor's and experience rather than a further degree.

⚠⚠ Look at the master's column twice. Marketing managers: 6% master's. Market research analysts, one rung DOWN: 30%. The graduate degree attaches to the analytical specialism, not to the promotion. That is the opposite of most paths on this site and it should change how you spend money.

⚠⚠⚠ $32,840 for selling something technical

Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are 1,571,400 jobs with about 123,400 openings a year — among the largest openings figures on this site — in an occupation projected to show little or no change from 2025 to 2035. That is turnover, and it means the door is always open.

Which products you sell	Median	Typical entry
⚠ Except technical and scientific	$72,080	high school diploma
✅ Technical and scientific	✅ $104,920	✅ bachelor's degree

⚠⚠⚠ Same occupation, $32,840 apart, and the split is whether the product needs explaining. Medical devices, laboratory instruments, industrial equipment, software, pharmaceuticals.

⚠⚠ The practical consequence is worth stating plainly: a science, engineering or health background is worth real money in sales. If you have one and the laboratory or the ward is not for you, this is the best-paid use of it outside the field itself — and this site's health and engineering paths are full of people who should know that.

⚠⚠ What marketing managers actually studied

Undergraduate field	People
Business	175,070
⚠ Communications	88,800
Social sciences	38,529

⚠ Communications at roughly half of business is a bigger feeder than most advice admits, and social sciences third is the same pattern this site found on law and on health administration — the general analytical degrees travel further than their titles suggest.

Attainment: bachelor's 354,402, graduate degree 144,540, and ⚠⚠ some college with no degree 51,488.

⚠⚠⚠ Roughly one marketing manager in nine got there without finishing a degree. At a $166,790 median that is genuinely unusual, and it is consistent with O*NET recording 12% of employers accepting a high school diploma. This is a field where demonstrated results outrank credentials more than almost anywhere else on this site.

⚠⚠⚠ Florida numbers Principles of Marketing twice, and it can cost you a course

Number	Carriers	Sector
`MAR2011` Principles of Marketing	24	⚠⚠ ALL 24 are state colleges
`MAR3023` Principles of Marketing	19	11 universities + 8 state colleges

⚠⚠⚠ Same course title, two numbers, split on the sector line — and a 2000-level course cannot supply upper-division hours toward a Florida baccalaureate. A student who takes MAR2011 at a state college and transfers into a marketing BBA may be asked to take the same subject again at the 3000 level.

⚠ The eight state colleges that carry BOTH numbers are the evidence that this is a deliberate A.S.-to-baccalaureate ladder rather than a filing error — they run both credentials. It costs a transferring student either way.

⚠⚠ So get a written answer from the receiving department before you enrol, and if the baccalaureate is the goal, ask whether you should wait and take MAR3023.

Necessary skills

Reading a market as evidence rather than as opinion — which is why the research course matters more than the creative one.
Pricing and margin. O*NET puts developing pricing strategies among the first tasks of the job, and it is where marketing meets the accounts.
Measurement and attribution. The specialist half of this field has become quantitative, and the people who can prove an effect get the budget.
Selling — genuinely. Whatever your title, you will spend your career persuading people with their own priorities.
Writing that survives being cut in half, because most marketing output is short.
Tolerance for being measured. This is a field with numbers attached to your name, which suits some people and not others.

Advice

⚠⚠⚠ Do not buy a master's to become a manager. 80% of employers want a bachelor's and 6% a master's. If you want the graduate degree, want it for the analytical track, where 30% of employers do ask.

⚠⚠ If you have a technical or scientific background, look at technical sales before anything else. $104,920 against $72,080 for the same occupation, and 123,400 openings a year. It is the single best-paid use of a science degree outside the science.

⚠ Take the research course. MAR4613 Marketing Research and Information Systems is carried by 13 Florida institutions and it is what separates a marketing graduate from 2,301 others in the same year.

⚠⚠ Watch the two Principles of Marketing numbers. MAR2011 at a state college is lower division; MAR3023 is upper division. If a baccalaureate is the plan, confirm which one counts before you register.

And take the entry roles seriously rather than as a waiting room. 87,200 marketing specialist openings and 123,400 sales openings a year is where essentially everyone starts, and the management median at the top of this page is earned there.

Programs that lead here

A program is a field of study, one level above a degree — each page says which degrees it covers and which Florida institutions award them. ⚠ The count is institutions that awarded a credential in the field in 2023; it is not a promise that a school runs this exact degree, and it counts something different from the course-based list further down.

Marketing 21 Florida schools

The named degree — 21 Florida public institutions, 2,688 credentials, 2,302 of them bachelor's and only 162 master's, which matches what employers ask for. ⚠⚠ Read its degrees note on the MAR2011 / MAR3023 sector split before taking Principles of Marketing at a state college.

Business Administration and Management 45 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The largest real feeder: Census microdata puts BUSINESS first among the undergraduate fields held by marketing managers at 175,070 people, ahead of communications at 88,800. ⚠ A general business degree with marketing coursework competes for the same jobs and is taught more widely across Florida.

Data Science and Analytics 13 Florida schools

⚠⚠ Where the specialist half of this field has gone. Market research analysts and marketing specialists number 941,700 with 87,200 annual openings, and the work is measurement, segmentation and attribution. ⚠ It is also where the 30% master's demand sits — if you are buying a graduate degree, buy it here rather than for management.

Related, but not a route in

Programs worth knowing about if you are considering this career — ⚠ they do not lead to it. Each row says what it is and is not.

Accounting 50 Florida schools

⚠ Named because pricing and margin responsibility are what separate a $166,790 manager from a $78,760 specialist, and O*NET lists developing pricing strategies among the first tasks of the job.

Computer Science 16 Florida schools

⚠⚠ Named for one specific and well-paid reason: technical and scientific sales representatives earn $104,920 against $72,080 for the non-technical half of the same occupation. A technical degree plus the ability to sell is one of the better-paid combinations available on a bachelor's.

Careers similar to this one

Careers filed under the same broad field in the federal classification (BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, AND RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES) — often they share early coursework, and each row says which group it is filed in. ⚠ Worth reading BEFORE you commit: switching between neighbours is cheap early and expensive late.

Accountant and CPA Accounting and Related Services

Accountants and auditors prepare, examine and attest to the financial records organisations run and are judged on — statements, tax, controls and the audits that make the numbers credible. ⚠ A median of $83,680 with 124,200 openings a year, one of the largest steady hiring markets on this site. ⚠⚠⚠ And the fact that should shape a Florida student's plan: Florida still requires 150 SEMESTER HOURS for a CPA licence while other states have moved, and bills to change it have passed the Florida Senate unanimously TWICE and died in the House both times. This page covers three related roles.

Construction Manager Construction Management

Construction managers plan, price, schedule and deliver building projects — coordinating trades, controlling cost, enforcing code and safety, and answering for the programme. ⚠ A median of $114,990 with 9% growth, on a route with no licence gate at entry — compare architecture at $99,280 after an accredited degree, 3,740 supervised hours and a six-division exam. ⚠⚠⚠ And the finding that matters most in Florida: a construction degree is worth THREE YEARS of site experience toward a contractor licence under s. 489.111. This page covers three related roles, and two routes that look alike and end in different places.

Financial Analyst Finance and Financial Management Services

Financial analysts value companies and securities, build the models firms decide by, and measure the risk of being wrong. ⚠ A median of $103,570 with 7% growth. ⚠⚠ It is a CHOICE path, but a concentrated one: counted degrees put business at about half of working analysts, with the social sciences — economics among them — the next largest block. ⚠⚠⚠ And the finding that should redirect some readers: the ANALYTICAL roles in this family are growing at 7% while the ADVISORY ones grow at 1%, despite paying the same or more. This page covers four roles.

Hospitality, Restaurant and Event Manager Hospitality Administration/Management

⚠⚠⚠ Lodging managers earn $69,250 and food service managers $69,390 — $140 apart — but 72% of employers want a bachelor's for the first and 30% will take a high school diploma for the second. ⚠⚠ And food service management is SEVEN TIMES the occupation: 352,800 jobs against 52,000, with 42,000 annual openings against 5,400. In the industry Florida is built on, the degree buys you the smaller half at the same money.

Human Resources Specialist Human Resources Management and Services

Human resources specialists recruit and hire, administer pay and benefits, interpret employment law and policy, and handle the disputes and complaints that come with employing people. ⚠ A median of $75,940 across 939,700 jobs, all of it growing. ⚠⚠ It is the most open CHOICE path on this site: business supplies only about a quarter of HR workers, PSYCHOLOGY is the second largest feeder, and 16% have no degree beyond some college. ⚠⚠⚠ And the money is in progression, not credentials — the step to HR manager is worth $73,340 and asks for experience, not another degree.

Logistics and Supply Chain Analyst Business Administration, Management and Operations

Logisticians decide where goods sit, how they move and what it costs — purchasing, inventory, transportation and network design. ⚠ It is the fastest-growing and best-paid occupation in this cluster (a median of $82,320, growth of 18% on the latest federal projection), and there is no single required major: 75% hold a bachelor's, and business, supply chain and engineering all lead here. So does the military.

Real Estate Agent, Broker and Analyst Real Estate

⚠⚠⚠ The licence to sell property in Florida is 63 classroom hours — about a week and a half — and employers report 52% accepting a high school diploma and 22% less than that. ⚠⚠ Meanwhile Florida's universities award 408 real estate credentials a year, 138 of them MASTER'S. Those two facts describe different jobs that share a word, and choosing between them is what this page is for.

Small Business Owner and Entrepreneur Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

⚠⚠⚠ Half of new US businesses are gone in five years and two-thirds in ten — BLS tracks it, and the rate barely moves between cohorts: 79.6% survive year one, 50.2% survive five, 34.7% survive ten. ⚠⚠ Every entrepreneurship page should open with that and almost none does. ⚠ Florida's own answer is a cheap certificate rather than a degree: 86% of the 2,102 credentials in this field are certificates of under a year.

Systems Analyst and IT Manager Management Information Systems and Services

⚠⚠⚠ Computer and information systems managers earn $175,140 with 55,600 openings a year — and 26% of them report reaching it with SOME COLLEGE AND NO DEGREE, against 48% with a bachelor's and 14% with a master's. ⚠⚠ The rung below, computer systems analyst, is $105,850 across 521,100 jobs. This is the best-paid management occupation on the site and one of the most credential-loose.

See every career in BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, AND RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES →

Courses along this path

Selected, not exhaustive — the courses specific to this path plus the foundations it is built on. A course number does not identify a course in Florida: always check your own institution's catalog and take a syllabus to an adviser.

MAR2011 —Principles of Marketing Guide

⚠⚠ Principles of Marketing — 24 Florida institutions, and every single one is a STATE COLLEGE. The lower-division version, and the cheapest way into the subject.

⚠ ⚠⚠⚠ This is a 2000-level course and cannot supply upper-division hours toward a Florida baccalaureate. If you intend to transfer into a marketing BBA, get a written answer from the receiving department first — you may be asked to take MAR3023, the same subject, again.

MAR3023 —Principles of Marketing Request a guide

⚠⚠ Principles of Marketing — 19 institutions: 11 universities and the 8 state colleges that hold baccalaureate authority. The upper-division version, and the one that counts toward a bachelor's.

⚠ ⚠ Eight state colleges carry BOTH this and MAR2011, which is the evidence that the pair is a deliberate A.S.-to-baccalaureate ladder rather than a numbering error.

MAR4613 —Marketing Research Request a guide

⚠⚠ Marketing Research and Information Systems — 13 institutions, the most widely carried upper-division marketing course after the principles pair. ⚠ The research and measurement skill is what distinguishes a graduate in a field producing 2,302 bachelor's a year.

MAR4503 —Consumer Behavior Request a guide

Consumer Behavior — 8 institutions. The psychology underneath the discipline, and the course that makes segmentation more than guesswork.

MAR4403 —Sales Management Request a guide

⚠ Sales Management — 8 institutions. Named deliberately: sales is where 1,571,400 jobs and 123,400 annual openings are, and most marketing graduates start there whether or not they planned to.

MAR4156 —International Marketing Request a guide

International Marketing — 9 institutions. Relevant in Florida specifically, given Miami's role as a Latin American commercial hub.

MAR4841 —Services Marketing Request a guide

Services Marketing — 8 institutions. Florida's economy is overwhelmingly services — tourism, health care, financial services — and this is the course that addresses it.

MAR3802 —Marketing for Managers Request a guide

Marketing for Managers — 8 institutions, all state colleges. The applied version for students in a business A.S. or BAS rather than a marketing major.

MKA2021 —Personal Selling Guide

Personal Selling — 8 institutions. ⚠ The most practical course on this page: selling is what the largest occupation in the family actually does, and it is teachable.

⚠ ⚠ Also numbered MKA1021 Principles of Selling at 4 institutions. Register by number.

MKA2511 —Advertising Request a guide

Principles of Advertising — 8 institutions. The promotional side, and the lower-division entry to it at state colleges.

⚠ ⚠ Also numbered MKA1511 Advertising: Traditional and New Media at 3 institutions.

STA2023 —Elementary Statistics Guide

⚠ Elementary Statistics — 39 institutions. Market research and attribution are statistical work, and the 30% of employers who want a master's in the analytical track want it for this.

ACG2021 —Financial Accounting Guide

Financial Accounting — 32 institutions. Pricing and margin decisions are the manager's job, and you cannot make them without reading the statements.

ECO2023 —Principles of Microeconomics Guide

Principles of Microeconomics — 39 institutions. Demand, elasticity and competition — the theory underneath every pricing decision the job description names.

ENC1101 —English Composition I Guide

English Composition I — 39 institutions. Most marketing output is short written work, and clarity under a word limit is the professional skill.

SPC1017 —Fundamentals of Speech Communication Guide

Fundamentals of Speech Communication — 16 institutions. Named because communications is the second-largest feeder into this occupation at 88,800 people, and because presenting is most of the job at every level.

CGS2100 —Microcomputer Applications Request a guide

Computer Applications for Business — the spreadsheet and data-handling foundation. ⚠ Named because marketing has become a measurement discipline and the specialist roles screen on it.

⚠ ⚠ Florida numbers business computing several ways (CGS2100, CGS1100, ISM3011). Check your catalogue.

Where you can take these courses in Florida

39 Florida public institutions teach courses on this path. The count is how many of the 16 listed courses each one carries — it shows where the path is best covered. It is not a statement that a school offers this as a degree; for that, check the institution’s own programme list.

FIU

Florida International University

11 of 16

FSU

Florida State University

11 of 16

FGCU

Florida Gulf Coast University

10 of 16

SSCF

Seminole State College of Florida

10 of 16

UNF

University of North Florida

10 of 16

USF

University of South Florida

10 of 16

UWF

University of West Florida

10 of 16

FAMU

Florida A & M University

9 of 16

FAU

Florida Atlantic University

9 of 16

SPC

St. Petersburg College

9 of 16

SCFMS

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota

9 of 16

DSC

Daytona State College

8 of 16

EFSC

Eastern Florida State College

8 of 16

FSCJ

Florida State College at Jacksonville

8 of 16

IRSC

Indian River State College

8 of 16

SFC

Santa FE College

8 of 16

University of Florida

8 of 16

Valencia College

8 of 16

College of Central Florida

7 of 16

FGC

Florida Gateway College

7 of 16

FSWSC

Florida Southwestern State College

7 of 16

LSSC

Lake-Sumter State College

7 of 16

PESC

Pensacola State College

7 of 16

PSC

Polk State College

7 of 16

TSC

Tallahassee State College

7 of 16

UCF

University of Central Florida

7 of 16

Broward College

6 of 16

Hillsborough College

6 of 16

NFC

North Florida College

6 of 16

NWFSC

Northwest Florida State College

6 of 16

PBSC

Palm Beach State College

6 of 16

FLPOLY

Florida Polytechnic University

5 of 16

GCSC

Gulf Coast State College

5 of 16

MDC

Miami Dade College

5 of 16

PHSC

Pasco-Hernando State College

5 of 16

SFSC

South Florida State College

5 of 16

CFK

The College of the Florida Keys

5 of 16

SJRSC

St. Johns River State College

4 of 16

NCF

New College of Florida

3 of 16

Sources

Requirements change. These are the authorities that decide them — check them directly before committing to a route.

O*NET — Marketing Managers (11-2021.00) — ⚠⚠ 407,000 employed (2024), median $166,790 (2025), 34,300 annual openings, growth much faster than average (7% or higher). ⚠⚠⚠ Education 80% bachelor's, 12% high school diploma, only 6% master's. Tasks include planning and coordinating marketing policies and determining demand, developing pricing strategies to maximise profit or market share, and overseeing product development.
O*NET — Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists (13-1161.00) — ⚠⚠ The entry occupation and the biggest in the family: 941,700 employed, median $78,760 (2025), 87,200 annual openings, growth much faster than average. ⚠⚠⚠ Education 70% bachelor's and 30% MASTER'S — five times the master's demand reported for marketing MANAGERS, which is why the page says the graduate degree belongs to the analytical track rather than the management one.
BLS — Wholesale and Manufacturing Sales Representatives — ⚠⚠⚠ 1,571,400 jobs (2025) and about 123,400 annual openings, in an occupation projected to show little or no change from 2025 to 2035 — so the openings are turnover. Median $76,460 overall, but split: TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC products $104,920, everything else $72,080. ⚠ Entry varies with it — a high school diploma for non-technical products, a bachelor's typically required for scientific and technical ones.
Census ACS PUMS (2024) — field of degree by occupation, via Data USA — ⚠⚠ Entrant evidence for this CHOICE path. Undergraduate fields held by marketing managers: BUSINESS 175,070, COMMUNICATIONS 88,800, SOCIAL SCIENCES 38,529. Attainment: bachelor's 354,402, graduate degree 144,540, ⚠ some college with no degree 51,488. ⚠⚠ Note the legible disagreement with O*NET: employers report 6% needing a master's while 144,540 managers hold a graduate degree — required against held. Data USA tabulates ACS microdata; the counts are the survey's.
IPEDS Completions 2023 (C2023_A) — CIP 52.1401 — Marketing/Marketing Management: 21 Florida public institutions, 2,688 credentials — 2,302 bachelor's, 162 master's, 145 certificates of twelve weeks to a year, 54 associate, 25 one-to-two-year certificates. Florida State 574, FIU 507, USF 417, FAU 273, UCF 257, UF 209. ⚠ A bachelor's field by a factor of fourteen, which matches what employers report wanting.
SCNS statewide course file — the two Principles of Marketing numbers — ⚠⚠⚠ Measured over the whole file: MAR2011 Principles of Marketing is carried by 24 Florida public institutions and ALL 24 are Florida College System; MAR3023, the same subject at upper division, is carried by 19 — 11 State University System and the 8 state colleges with baccalaureate authority. ⚠⚠ A 2000-level course cannot supply upper-division hours toward a Florida baccalaureate. ⚠ The eight dual carriers show this is a deliberate A.S.-to-baccalaureate ladder rather than a numbering defect.

Last updated 23 September 2026.