Lodging Managers
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Overview
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that provides lodging and other accommodations.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($63K): Finance
Largest undergraduate program (15.9% of workers): Hospitality Management
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
ManagerHotelDirectorKeeperResortGeneralFrontGuestMotelAccommodationsCampInnkeeperRoomsOfficeOperatorRecreationalTouristAgriculturalLaborApartmentCoordinatorBedBreakfastBoardinghouseCampgroundDudeRanchDeskRelationsServiceServicesHospitalityOperationOperationsSuperintendentHotelsHousingLandladyLodgingFacilitiesMotorNightVehicleResidentRevenueRoomingHouseCabinHome
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Responsibilities and activities

Lodging managers typically do the following:

  • Inspect guest rooms, public areas, and grounds for cleanliness and appearance
  • Ensure that company standards for guest services, décor, and housekeeping are met
  • Answer questions from guests about hotel policies and services
  • Keep track of how much money the hotel or lodging facility is making
  • Interview, hire, train, and sometimes fire staff members
  • Monitor staff performance to ensure that guests are happy and that the hotel is well run
  • Coordinate front-office activities of hotels or motels and resolve problems
  • Set room rates and budgets, approve expenditures, and allocate funds to various departments

A comfortable room, good food, and a helpful staff can make being away from home an enjoyable experience for guests on vacation or business travel. Lodging managers occasionally greet and register guests. They also try to make sure that guests have a good experience.

Lodging establishments vary in size, from independently owned bed and breakfasts to motels with just a few rooms or to hotels that can have thousands of guest rooms. Larger hotels with more amenities lead to a greater range of duties for lodging managers, such as granting access to a swimming pool, operating a casino, or hosting conventions.

Many lodging managers use online social media for marketing purposes.

The following are examples of types of lodging managers:

General managers oversee all lodging operations at a property. At large hotels with several departments and multiple layers of management, the general manager and several assistant managers coordinate the activities of separate departments. These departments may include housekeeping, human resources, room operations, marketing and sales, purchasing, security, maintenance, recreational facilities, and other activities. For more information, see the profiles on human resources managers; public relations and fundraising managers; financial managers; advertising, promotions, and marketing managers; and food service managers.

Revenue managers work in financial management, monitoring room sales and reservations, overseeing accounting and cash-flow matters at the hotel, projecting occupancy levels, and deciding which rooms to discount and when to offer special rates.

Front-office managers coordinate reservations and room assignments and train and direct the hotel’s front-desk staff. They ensure that guests are treated courteously, that complaints and problems are resolved, and that requests for special services are carried out. Most front-office managers are also responsible for adjusting bills.

Convention service managers coordinate the activities of various departments, to accommodate meetings, conventions, and special events. They meet with representatives of groups to plan the number of conference rooms to be reserved, design the configuration of the meeting space, and determine what other services the groups will need, such as catering or audiovisual requirements. During a meeting or event, they resolve unexpected problems and ensure that hotel operations meet a group’s expectations.

Salary
Median salary: $56,670 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $42,430 and $76,660.
$57K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K$120K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for lodging managers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$38K$47K$52K$42K$50K$52K$53K$45K$24K$0$50K$100K$150K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
05K10K15K20K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Lodging Managers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of lodging managers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Responsible for Others' Health (100%)
  • Time Pressure (76%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (63%)
  • Unpleasant or Angry People (51%)
SOURCES:
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Lodging Managers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Business skills
Lodging managers address budget matters and coordinate and supervise workers. Operating a profitable hotel is important—as is the need to motivate and direct the work of employees.
Customer-service skills
Lodging managers must have excellent customer-service skills when dealing with guests. Satisfying guests’ needs is critical to a hotel’s success and helps to ensure customer loyalty.
Interpersonal skills
Lodging managers need strong interpersonal skills because they interact regularly with many different people. They must be effective communicators and must have positive interactions with guests and hotel staff, even in stressful situations.
Leadership skills
Lodging managers must establish good working relationships to ensure a productive work environment. This objective may involve motivating personnel, resolving conflicts, and listening to complaints or criticism from guests.
Listening skills
Lodging managers should have excellent listening skills. Listening to the needs of guests allows managers to take the appropriate course of action, ensuring guests’ satisfaction. Listening to the needs of workers helps managers keep good working relationships with the staff.
Organizational skills
Lodging managers keep track of many different schedules, budgets, and people at once. This task becomes more complex as the size of the hotel increases.
Problem-solving skills
The ability to resolve personnel issues and guest-related dissatisfaction is critical to the work of lodging managers. As a result, they should be creative and practical when confronted with problems.
Injury and Illness
About 45 lodging managers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 66% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Sprains, strains, tears
Soreness and pain
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by lodging managers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), lodging managers typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as lodging managers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for lodging managers

Most full-service hotel chains hire candidates with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality or hotel management. Hotel management programs typically include instruction in hotel administration, accounting, marketing and sales, housekeeping, food service management and catering, and hotel maintenance and engineering. Systems training is also an integral part of many degree programs, because hotels use hospitality-specific software in reservations, billing, and housekeeping management. The Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration accredits about 60 hospitality management programs.

At hotels that provide fewer services, candidates with an associate’s degree or a certificate in hotel, restaurant, or hospitality management may qualify for a job as a lodging manager.

Also, many technical institutes and vocational and trade schools offer courses that are recognized by the hospitality industry that may help in getting a job. Currently, some states and the District of Columbia offer high school academic training for prospective lodging managers.

Details: Licensing and certification recommended for lodging managers

High school students can enroll in the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program (HTMP) offered by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI). The HTMP is a 2-year program that teaches management principles and leads to professional certification. College students and working professionals can also obtain the Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics (CHIA) through AHLEI.

Education level of Lodging Managers
Only 44% of lodging managers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by lodging managers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Top college degrees
Here are the top college degrees held by the 43% of people in this job who have at least a bachelor's degree. Some of degrees may link to multiple programs due to the way Census classifies college majors. Click on a program to learn more about career opportunities for people who major in that field.
  1. Hospitality Management
  2. Business Management and Administration
  3. Business/Commerce
  4. Accounting
  5. Communications
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College majors held by lodging managers
This table shows the college majors held by people working as lodging managers. If you see "**" before the name of a degree/program, that means this field is one that the Department of Education believes is preparatory for this career. However, you can see from this list that those recommendations are far from your only path to this job!
Salary comparison for bachelor's only
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Career salary (tail) versus Career/Major salary (dot)
Does the bachelor's-only salary rise or fall with this major?
$42K$66K
Salary for bachelor's-only
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Salary for all workers
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Education for Career and Major
Bachelor's
Master's
Professional
Doctorate
Workers with this career/major
Percentage in this career with this major
Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Not so much?
The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as lodging managers, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
Expand degrees
Hospitality Manageme...Business Management ...General BusinessAccountingCommunicationsPsychologyMarketingHistoryEconomicsPolitical Science an...All other degreesThis jobTop 10 majors
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Lodging Managers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most lodging managers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as lodging managers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where lodging managers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for lodging managers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for lodging managers.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which lodging managers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Lodging Managers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
9% of Lodging managers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 9% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 58% of careers.
9%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of lodging managers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$44K$45K$45K$47K$31K$45K$0$50,000$100,000$150,000Self-employed not incorporatedSelf-employed incorporatedState governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Lodging managers and gender
With 51% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 62% of careers.
Gender of Lodging managers
Men (49%)
Women (51%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$41K$50K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
51%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%, and the difference for lodging managers tops that, with the median salary for men 20% higher than the median salary for women.
20%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Lodging managers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Lodging managers.
Race/origin of lodging managers
White (72% )
Black (10% )
Asian (9% )
Other (4% )
Multiracial (3% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$41K$43K$45K$47K$48K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K$120KBlackAsianWhiteMultiracialOther
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.