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Hiring a project management specialist in Irving, TX

Employers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX area pay project management specialists a median of $98,900, with the middle half of the market between $76,740 and $131,250. Irving residents working in business and financial operations occupations report a median of $71,449, which is 28% below what the metro pays for this role.

What does a project management specialist earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile$76,740
Median$98,900
75th percentile$131,250

Half of project management specialists in this area earn between $76,740 and $131,250. A band set below $76,740 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Irving residents earn

$71,449

Median earnings of Irving residents working in business and financial operations occupations, 8,616 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 28% 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 Irving rather than competing for commuters.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

  • Assign duties or responsibilities to project personnel.
  • Communicate with key stakeholders to determine project requirements and objectives.
  • Confer with project personnel to identify and resolve problems.
  • Create project status presentations for delivery to customers or project personnel.
  • Develop or update project plans including information such as objectives, technologies, schedules, funding, and staffing.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 13-1082.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Word, Project management software, Adobe Acrobat.

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 Irving?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

That matters here, because 41.6% of Irving adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a workable pool, but the search will reach beyond the city line. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Irving commute runs 24.1 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 17.3% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Dallas County, accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services employs 27,397 and turns over 9.4% a quarter, with 4,714 hires against 3,860 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $9,974 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5412.

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 project management specialists. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a normal churn rate, where a well-run search closes on schedule.

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 $19,780 to $29,670 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.