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Construction Managers pay in Ames, IA and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Construction Managers is $96,720 per year in Ames, IA. It is $166,030 per year in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Ames, IA is 41.7% below San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 11-9021 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 120 wage and salary jobs in Ames, IA and 5,160 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings