Best Sales Rep Salary: Average Sales Salary in 50 States

Sales rep salary varies heavily, but here’s how it breaks down by state.

Whether you’re looking for a job, negotiating a raise, or looking to hire sales reps — knowing the average sales rep salary for your state will help you!

The sales industry can be finicky.   Before we get too far, we thought it would be helpful for you to grab this example sales rep hiring template (no email required!).

Salaries can stagnate and leave you needing a cost of living increase in addition to your commission (which you may have to negotiate). Not to mention that it’s not likely that a great rep will be selling the same thing at the end of their career as when they started.

This may even require a move or two over the course of your working life.

If you find yourself staring at one of these issues, you may find it helpful to know the average sales rep salary by state.

You’ll also need all of the tools necessary to make an informed decision. 

Note: The average sales rep salary in the U.S.A. in 2021 is $65035.

Average Sales Rep Salary by State (Alphabetical Order)

Other Things to Consider

1 Cost of Living

The living costs are described as the quantity of money required to pay basic costs such as shelter, meals, taxes, and healthcare in a specific location and time frame. The cost of living is frequently used to compare how costly it is to live in one place against another, and it is a useful tool in this context. The cost of living is inversely proportional to wages. If living expenditures are greater in a city, such as New York, for example, wage levels must be higher as well in order for individuals to be able to afford to live in the city in question.

The cost of living index measures the difference between the cost of living in a large city and the cost of living in a similar metropolitan region. The index takes into account the cost of various living expenditures, resulting in an aggregate measure that new workers may use as a reference point. The index gives an instructive overview of rental, transportation, and grocery expenses at a time when college grads are weighing their career options and presently employed job searchers are contemplating a relocation.

It is possible that various indexes assess living expenditures in different ways. For example, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research, San Diego was the most expensive city in the United States in 2018, not New York City, according to Kiplinger. Its cost of living index examined costs in 269 metropolitan centers for expenditures such as accommodation, food and utilities; transport; and health, and even simple things like getting a haircut or going to see a movie, as per the Council. San Diego’s housing costs are 138 percent more than the national average, and its transportation costs are more than 20 percent higher than the national average, to name a few examples.

Some places are more expensive than others. A place that pays you more to sell stuff may end up costing you more to live there.

Good Example:

 New Hampshire is the number one in terms of salary, but it’s also nearly 20% more than the national average in terms of cost of living. In this case, the average salary is more than the cost, making it a good deal.

Bad Example: Hawaii, on the other hand—not so much. To sell there, you’ll make less than the average sales salary, and the cost of living is 67% higher than average. Not a great place to save for retirement.

Further Research: Here’s a post listing the cost of living by state.

2 Average Salary (Not Sales)

How well is the sales industry thriving in your state?

A good way to tell is to pair up the salary of a sales rep and the average salary in that state.

This could also be a great way to negotiate for a raise. If your wage is lower than both averages, it could give you a bit more leverage (but be careful).

Good Example: Taking New Hampshire again, you’ll see that the average sales representative salary overall by the state is actually $12,000 less than the salary of the average sales. This could allude to business being good for reps who can hit quota. (Especially when you look at the cost of living, too.)

Bad Example: Hate to pick on Hawaii again, but if the salary fits. The average statewide pay is $68,201, while the sales reps bring in nearly $14k less than that! 

How to Set Sales Salary

Setting wages for your employees is a difficult task to do at any time. It’s especially difficult if you’ve never tried it before because you’re likely to be completely lost as to where to begin. On the one hand, you want to be able to pay well enough to attract the most qualified candidates. On the other hand, you don’t want to overpay for anything. What is a business to do in this situation?

First and foremost, do not panic. Keep in mind that your objective is to attract high-quality employees and compensate them appropriately. Regarding the specific quantities, you should spend, remember that you never want to pay more than the task is worth to you in terms of its monetary value. That is simply sound business practice. Because, at the end of the day, a wage is similar to any other company expense: it is an investment, and you should expect to see a return on your investment. As a result, you begin by determining the maximum amount you are willing to spend.

This question: “How much more valuable will this individual make my company?” is the most effective approach to establish that ceiling. Your response is the highest amount of money you would be prepared to pay that individual in terms of sales rep salary.

Conclusion

That is a simple issue to solve for a salesperson or someone working in company development. You may simply ask yourself if the amount of money generated by these types of personnel is sufficient to support their salaries. If your new sales prospect is capable of generating $500,000 in earnings, it may be worthwhile to give them a $200,000 sales rep salary plus incentives in exchange for their services.