Building Management & Inspection

Types of Degrees Building Management & Inspection Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many building management and inspection graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	1,717
Undergraduate Certificate	1,337
Associate Degree	1,236
Bachelor’s Degree	221

What Building Management & Inspection Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, building management majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Building Management Majors

Building Management majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Building Management Majors

A major in building management prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Building Management Majors

Building Management majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
• Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

What Can You Do With a Building Management & Inspection Major?

People with a building management degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Carpet Installers	9.4%	$39,340
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers	12.6%	$43,000
Civil Engineering Technicians	8.9%	$52,580
Construction and Building Inspectors	10.1%	$59,700
Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers	1.0%	$43,730
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	12.6%	$65,230
First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers	9.9%	$39,940
Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles	9.8%	$42,760
Floor Sanders and Finishers	8.2%	$37,510
Glaziers	10.4%	$43,550
Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall	1.3%	$38,480
Insulation Workers, Mechanical	9.8%	$47,740
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General	7.9%	$38,300
Painters, Construction and Maintenance	5.7%	$38,940
Paperhangers	5.3%	$38,090
Roofers	11.1%	$39,970
Solar Energy Installation Managers	12.6%	$65,230
Solar Photovoltaic Installers	104.4%	$42,680
Structural Iron and Steel Workers	12.8%	$53,970
Terrazzo Workers and Finishers	11.1%	$42,500
Tile and Marble Setters	9.8%	$41,840

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Building Management & Inspection?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 221 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in building management and inspection in 2021, making it rank #246 in popularity. This major tends to be male dominated. About 86% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of building management majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	4
Black or African American	24
Hispanic or Latino	56
White	126
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	9

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Building Management. About 0.9% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• India
• Venezuela
• China
• Costa Rica
• Taiwan

How Much Do Building Management & Inspection Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The U.S. Department of Education found that students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree in building management and inspection made a median starting salary of $64,516 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $62,191 (25th percentile) and $66,258 (75th percentile).

It is possible that some of these people may have taken positions that were not related to building management.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $43,050 to $49,170 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to building management. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Building Management & Inspection

Some careers associated with building management require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to building management have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	21.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	44.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	16.6%
Some College Courses	9.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	3.1%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.4%
Master’s Degree	0.3%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.2%
Doctoral Degree	0.4%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Building Management & Inspection Programs

In 2020-2021, 363 schools offered a building management program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	241	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	20	0
Associate’s Degree	246	3
Bachelor’s Degree	3	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Building Management & Inspection Worth It?

The median salary for a building management grad is $46,010 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 15% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $122,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Building Management & Inspection

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to building management.

Major	Number of Grads
Electrical & Power Transmission Installers	23,527
Carpentry	3,273
Plumbing & Water Supply	2,617
Construction	1,435
Masonry	274
Other Construction	157

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.