Hiring an industrial production manager in Madison, WI

Employers in the Madison, WI area pay industrial production managers a median of $127,020, with the middle half of the market between $104,270 and $163,590. Madison residents working in management occupations report a median of $76,958, which is 39% below what the metro pays for this role.

What does an industrial production manager earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Madison, WI area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$104,270
Median	$127,020
75th percentile	$163,590

Half of industrial production managers in this area earn between $104,270 and $163,590. A band set below $104,270 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Madison residents earn

$76,958

Median earnings of Madison residents working in management occupations, 16,975 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 39% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

The role pays well above the local residential norm, which usually means you can hire from inside Madison rather than competing for commuters.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Set and monitor product standards, examining samples of raw products or directing testing during processing, to ensure finished products are of prescribed quality.
Direct or coordinate production, processing, distribution, or marketing activities of industrial organizations.
Review processing schedules or production orders to make decisions concerning inventory requirements, staffing requirements, work procedures, or duty assignments, considering budgetary limitations and time constraints.
Review operations and confer with technical or administrative staff to resolve production or processing problems.
Hire, train, evaluate, or discharge staff or resolve personnel grievances.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 11-3051.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Madison?

This is a job zone three: medium preparation needed occupation. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 59.2% of Madison adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Madison commute runs 19.4 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 18.2% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Dane County, management of companies and enterprises employs 5,441 and turns over 5.4% a quarter, with 404 hires against 415 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $11,593 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 55.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about industrial production managers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $25,404 to $38,106 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring an industrial production manager somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other management roles in Madison

Madison is the 2th largest of 2 Wisconsin cities in this dataset.