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Consulting Project Manager Salary in 2026 [Freshers & Experienced]

By Kevin D.Davis

Updated on Jan 12, 2026 | 11 min read | 5.35K+ views

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Given the increasing complexity of projects across all industrial sectors, companies are increasingly hiring consultant project managers to bring fresh skills, expertise and insights to their current workforce. This has resulted in a high demand for professionals who can fill this job role, making way for a high average consulting project manager salary.

So, if you are an individual with a business administration or management background, keep reading this blog. You will get to know how this job role may bring you high career growth prospects. 

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Who is a Consulting Project Manager? 

A consulting project manager is a professional working as a consultant who is responsible for handling projects in his/her client’s organization. Such individuals have to work with multiple businesses, helping them with critical projects and also preparing managers to lead in their respective organizations.

Like project managers, consulting project managers handle all the aspects of a project’s lifecycle right from initiation to its completion. They help schedule product releases, provide forecasts, conduct risk management and optimize the production process. Online Project Management courses will help you boost your preparation and become the top project manager.

Consulting Project Manager Job Trends

Here are some important points regarding consulting project manager job trends:

  • As per surveys, by 2028, the job growth rate for consulting project managers is predicted to rise by 11%.
  • In the last 5 years, salaries for this job role have increased by 8%.
  • Currently, the average consulting project manager salary ranges from $106K - $171K/year.

Consulting Project Manager Salary in 2026

The standard consulting project manager salary tends to vary based on several factors like years of experience, location, industry, skills, education and more.

Glassdoor

1. Average Consulting Project Manager Salary

Mentioned below are the approximate consulting project manager salary 2024 rates:

Time Period  Average Salary
Yearly $134K/annum
Monthly  $11,166/month
Hourly  $64.42/hour

2. Consulting Project Manager Salary: Based on Experience

Depending upon experience, here is the yearly package you can expect:

  • Beginner: Beginner consultant project managers with less than 3 years of experience have an average salary of $93,504/annum.
  • Intermediate: Candidates with 4 to 7 years of experience usually have an annual package of around $117,400. 
  • Advanced: The average senior project consultant salary for candidates having more than 7 years of experience ranges around $160,224/annum. 

3. Consulting Project Manager Salary: Based on Location

Now, the approximate consulting project manager salary can also tend to vary with the location. Find the average salary packages for the world’s top IT destinations below:

A. India

Listed below is the standard PM consulting salary you can expect in the top Indian cities:

City  Average Salary 
Bengaluru  ₹16.0 lakh/annum
Mumbai  ₹17.0 lakh/annum
Hyderabad ₹13.1 lakh/annum
Pune ₹13.6 lakh/annum
Chennai ₹18.0 lakh/annum
New Delhi  ₹12.5 lakh/annum
Kolkata ₹12.5 lakh/annum
Lucknow ₹8.5 lakh/annum
Ahmedabad ₹7.9 lakh/annum
Gurgaon  ₹14.6 lakh/annum

Here is the average program management consultant salary across the highest-paying Indian companies:

Company  Average Salary
Oracle ₹38.3 lakh/year
Tata Consultancy Services ₹17.8 lakh/year
Ernst & Young ₹15.7 lakh/year
Mastech InfoTrellis ₹19.3 lakh/year
Accenture ₹17.4 lakh/year
Oracle Financial Services Software ₹18.2 lakh/year
Wipro ₹15 lakh/year
Amnex Infotechnologies ₹6.7 lakh/year
Tata Power Delhi Distribution ₹7.4 lakh/year
CODE Cloud Web ₹8.6 lakh/year

B. US

Consulting project manager salary in the top cities across the United States are:

City  Average Salary 
California $130,000/annum
South Carolina $186,225/annum
Oklahoma $139,913/annum
Massachusetts $140,644/annum
Arizona $119,594/annum
North Carolina $119,925/annum
Georgia $126,750/annum
Connecticut $117,000/annum
Maryland $117,500/annum
New York $118,401/annum

Find the standard consulting project manager salaries offered by the top US employers below:

Company  Average Salary 
Oracle $166,430/year
Configure One $124,140/year
HCA Healthcare $128,954/year
Autodesk $176,879/year
Dell Technologies $244,911/year
Edifecs

$141,104/year

Meta $216,235/year
Environmental Corporation of America $124,561/year
Huron Consulting Group $138,238/year
Walmart $231,458/year

C. UK 

Here is the consulting project manager salary in the top cities across UK:

City  Average Salary 
Bristol  £49,879/annum
Glasgow £47,642/annum
London  £45,815/annum
Birmingham £45,259/annum
Runcorn  £42,272/annum
Edinburgh  £40,864/annum
Manchester £35,787/annum
Leeds £35,497/annum
Reading  £34,325/annum

Below are the consulting project manager salaries across the highest-paying companies in UK:

Company  Average Salary 
Accenture £61,324/year 
ALTRAD Group £81K -£109K/year
MI-GSO | PCUBED £47,200/year
Lloyds Banking Group £70K -£76K/year
FDM Group £37K -£39K/year
Virgin Media £26K -£28K/year
Atkins £38K -£42K/year
M·A·C Cosmetics £56K -£61K/year
ALTEN £35K -£38K/year
BAE Systems Digital Intelligence £66K -£72K/year

D. Australia

The average PMP consultant salary in the leading Australian cities is as follows:

City  Average Salary 
Melbourne  $119,320/annum
Perth  $115,173/annum
Sydney  $107,125/annum
Brisbane $97,974/annum
Darwin  $97,927/annum
Ballarat $82,831/annum

Consulting project manager salaries in the top Australian companies are as follows:

Company Average Salary
IMA Management & Technology $125K -$134K/year
Slattery $124K -$136K/year
PM-Partners Group $118K -$129K/year
Jacobs $116K -$126K/year
Oracle $171K -$214K/year
AIC Asia Services $159K -$171K/year
Accenture $160,584/year
Deloitte $134,000/year
KPMG $120,000/year
PwC $130,119/year

E. Canada

Project manager consultant's hourly rate for the top Canadian cities is as follows:

City  Average Salary 
British Columbia $48.05/hour
Ontario $60.19/hour
Alberta $63.28/hour

Here are the average consulting project manager salaries across the leading Canadian firms:

Company  Average Salary 
Oracle $178K -$191K/year
WSP $104K -$112K/year
Indeed $42K -$46K/year
Greater Toronto Airports Authority $159K -$171K/year
HOOPP $182K -$196K/year
Simon Fraser University $64K -$69K/year
UKG $79K -$86K/year
@home $32K -$34K/year
Deloitte $141,450/year
EcoPowertrain Consulting $80 -$86/hour

F. Singapore

The yearly senior project manager consultant salary package you can expect in the top cities in Singapore is as follows:

City  Average Salary 
Raffles $8,160/month
Singapore $6,167/month
Jurong Island  $5,452/month
Ang Mo Kio $5,415/month
Geylang $5,396/month
Outram $5,360/month
Woodlands $5,309/month
Clementi $5,280/month
Bedok $4,959/month

Here is the average consulting project manager salary across the top employers in Singapore:

Company  Average Salary
Achieve Group SGD 2,950/month
MAERSK SGD 3T -SGD 3T/month
Johnson & Johnson SGD 95T -SGD 1L/year
HP Inc. SGD 3T -SGD 3T/month
ExxonMobil SGD 4T -SGD 5T/month
National University Hospital SGD 4T -SGD 4T/month
Accenture SGD 1,48,440/year
Deloitte SGD 1,36,500/year
KPMG SGD 8,033/month
National University of Singapore SGD 3,200/month

4. Consulting Project Manager Salary: Based on Industry 

Given their expertise in handling various types of projects, consulting project managers are hired across several industries. This factor also plays a role in determining their average yearly packages.

Find the standard program manager consultant salary in different industrial sectors in the table below:

Industry Sector  Average Salary 
Technology $107,463/annum
Manufacturing $100,923/annum
Finance $103,146/annum
Education $98,560/annum
Health Care $99,514/annum
Professional $96,511/annum
Hospitality $97,954/annum

5. Consulting Project Manager Salary: Based on Job Roles

Each company may have a different requirement for hiring a consulting project manager. Based on this, their average salaries will tend to differ. Some businesses may need leadership in handling projects while others may need such professionals for conducting Scrum sessions. Alongside, PMP classes will support you ace your PMP exam in the first go.

Find the standard consulting project manager salary across various job roles in the table below:

Job Role  Average Salary 
Lead Program Manager  $89,000 - $158,000/annum
Manager and Consultant $112,992/annum
Project Manager/Scrum Master $95,047/annum
Program Manager $96,084/annum
Project Manager/Team Lead $106,977/annum
Information Technology Project Manager $106,981/annum

Factors Affecting Consulting Project Manager Salary

Here are the major factors which affect the average consulting project manager salary:

1. Location

Find in the table below the approximate consulting project manager salary range across the world’s top IT destinations:

Location  Average Salary 
India  ₹6 lakh - ₹33 lakh/year
USA $106K - $171K/year
UK £45K - £75K/year
Canada £45K - £75K/year
Australia $120K - $155K/year
Singapore SGD 3,180 - SGD 26,400/month

2. Experience

Below is the average consulting project manager salary based on experience:

Experience  Average Salary 
Less than 3 years $93,504/annum
4 to 7 years $117,400/annum
7+ years $160,224/annum

3. Demand and Supply 

Demand and supply play a major role in determining the average consulting project manager salaries. In locations and industry sectors where the demand is high for such professionals, the salaries will automatically be higher.

However, if supply is equal to or more than the demand, yearly packages in such cases will be lower. For example, the average yearly consulting project manager salary in Washington DC is $147,057. Whereas the standard salary for this job role in Phoenix is $106,738 per annum.

Thus, before starting your career as a consultant project manager, assessing the demand in your target location and industry is a must.

4. Certifications

Having the right certifications can help you avail higher consulting project manager salaries. Here are some which you can consider:

Certifications  Average Salary
Master Project Manager (MPM) $112,000 per annum 
Project Management Professional (PMP) $93,000 per annum
Six Sigma Green Belt $110,500 per annum
Certified Scrum Master (CSM) $114,000 per annum
Certified Manager Certification (CM) $85,500 per annum

5. Skills 

Your skill sets also play a major role in determining your annual package. Here is a list of skills that recruiters usually expect in consulting project manager candidates:

  • Project scope
  • Project management
  • Executive management
  • Business development
  • CRM
  • Scrum
  • Market data analysis
  • Client handling
  • Communication
  • Leadership
  • Coaching
  • Adaptability
  • Conflict management

How to Improve Consulting Project Manager Salary?

These are some of the ways you can improve your consulting project manager salary:

  1. Skills: Having a varied skill set increases your ability to handle multiple tasks, along with your value as an employee. Thus, upgrading your current skill sets can be an effective way to get higher consulting project manager salaries.
  2. Certifications: When you have multiple certifications, it showcases your ability to learn new things and the desire to improve your skills. It also indicates your proficiency in your respective field, making way for better job and salary prospects. 
  3. Degrees: Recruiters usually look for consulting project managers with a bachelor’s degree in engineering, management, finance or business administration. Additionally, having an MBA will help you gain the skills to successfully lead a team and finish a project.
  4. Experience: Usually, consulting project managers have prior experience working in related job roles like project analyst, project coordinator or project manager. So, gaining experience in such roles before opting for a consultant project manager position can be beneficial. You can also consider opting for online PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner training to gain industry-agnostic project management skills. It is a self-paced online course which you can attend as per your schedule. 

Why are Consulting Project Managers Paid So Much? 

Consulting project managers get hired by companies to bring their expertise, industry knowledge and insight into their workforce. These individuals work on multiple projects across different organizations and also help other managers prepare for leadership roles.

Their duties generally involve understanding the client’s objectives, developing project plans, leading teams, assessing and mitigating risks, monitoring progress and setting project goals. Hence, in comparison to other consultant roles, the salaries of consulting project managers are usually on the higher side.

Salary Growth and Projections 

Between 2019 and 2024, the average consulting project manager salary has increased from $93,200 to $101,000. Emerging technological innovations, rising complexity of projects and increasing competitiveness in the market will drive up the demand for professionals who can fill the consulting project manager job role.

Thus, as per experts, both job openings and salary prospects for this role will increase in the long run.

Conclusion

Now that you know the standard consulting project manager salary, you are ready to make an informed choice about your career. However, please remember that the certifications you may need in order to apply for this job role may be tough to crack. Thus, professional guidance is recommended so that you can clear such exams on the first go.

In this regard, KnowledgeHut's Project Management training classes can be a reliable choice. Our flexible learning options allow you to attend courses live or as per your schedule. Furthermore, our weekly mentorship program ensures that you keep improving your concepts, accuracy and speed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the highest-paid consulting project manager job role?

The highest-paid consulting project manager job role is lead program manager. These individuals have an annual package ranging from $89,000 - $158,000/annum.

2. What are the benefits of being a consulting project manager?

High annual packages, excellent industry exposure and merit-based growth are some of the benefits of being a consulting project manager. Furthermore, with your experience, you can avail several future career opportunities like opening a start-up, venture capitalism, etc. 
Understanding the client company’s requirements, managing and leading the teams, adaptability, leadership and communication are some of the most important skills for a consulting project manager. 

3. What are the skills that are most important for a consulting project manager?

Understanding the client company’s requirements, managing and leading the teams, adaptability, leadership and communication are some of the most important skills for a consulting project manager.

4. What are the career advancement opportunities for a consulting project manager?

Working as a consulting project manager, you can move to different job roles like lead program manager, scrum master, etc. Additionally, you can also transition to a different industry if it offers higher salaries and career prospects.

5. How can I increase my chances of getting a job as a consulting project manager in India?

You can increase your chances of getting a consulting project manager job in India by getting a Bachelor’s degree in business management, an MBA, the required certifications and gaining experience in a related job role.

Kevin D.Davis

481 articles published

Kevin D. Davis is a seasoned and results-driven Program/Project Management Professional with a Master's Certificate in Advanced Project Management. With expertise in leading multi-million dollar proje...

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