Guide · 6 minutes
Business development salary: what BDR, business development manager and director postings pay
Written by Yuma Heymans, Founder & CEO of SalesJobs.Now.
Yuma runs SalesJobs.Now out of San Francisco. Recruiting is familiar ground: Yuma also co-founded HeroHunt.ai, a platform that uses AI to find and reach candidates.
A US business development posting on this board typically pays $127,050 a year, but the title covers seats from the first rung of a sales career to the top of a team. Business development representatives (BDRs) post a median of $75,000, business development managers $152,500, and directors and heads of business development $195,513. This guide breaks business development pay down by level, industry, city and company, so an offer can be judged against the right group.
On 1 November 2026 this board had 2,374 open roles whose titles say business development or BDR, 1,009 of them open to US candidates, and 619 of those (61%) stated their pay. Every figure below is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale (base or on-target earnings, as the posting states it), and the median across the postings in each group. The business development jobs page lists every open seat with today's figures.
Contents
- The short answer
- Pay at each level
- Pay by what the company sells
- Pay by city
- The companies hiring, and what they post
- How business development pay is earned
- How these figures were counted
- Quick answers
1. The short answer
| Measure, US business development roles, 1 Nov 2026 | Posted pay per year |
|---|---|
| Median | $127,050 |
| Middle half of postings | $80,500 to $172,500 |
| Bottom tenth below | $61,000 |
| Top tenth above | $228,000 |
| Remote postings (median) | $130,000 |
| Office and field postings (median) | $124,600 |
2. Pay at each level
| Title level | US roles | Roles posting pay | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representative, BDR, specialist or associate | 359 | 232 | $75,000 | $62,500 to $90,000 |
| Executive | 50 | 21 | $127,775 | $105,000 to $237,500 |
| Manager | 307 | 186 | $152,500 | $115,500 to $172,000 |
| Director, vice president or head | 207 | 126 | $195,513 | $162,500 to $240,000 |
- Business development representatives prospect: they research accounts, call and write to people who have not asked to hear from the company, and book meetings for account executives. It is much the same seat as a sales development representative; the guide SDR vs BDR compares the two titles, and SDR salary the pay.
- Business development managers and executives usually find and close new business themselves, in distribution, testing, media, financial services and many other industries, or own a set of new markets or partners.
- Directors and heads of business development lead those teams or own the company's largest new deals and partnerships.
3. Pay by what the company sells
| What the company sells | US roles posting pay | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud and developer tools | 45 | $167,950 | $106,000 to $222,725 |
| Fintech | 55 | $162,500 | $107,500 to $191,000 |
| AI and data | 52 | $156,925 | $97,500 to $180,000 |
| Advertising, media and marketplaces | 51 | $135,000 | $53,258 to $172,400 |
| Industrial and distribution | 84 | $128,556 | $102,500 to $165,000 |
| Business and information services | 35 | $128,500 | $85,000 to $144,000 |
| Industry software | 102 | $105,687 | $73,500 to $165,000 |
| Cybersecurity | 34 | $87,656 | $62,536 to $121,000 |
| Business software | 77 | $77,000 | $64,350 to $92,500 |
The order follows the mix of levels as much as the industry: at business software and security companies most business development titles are BDR seats, so their medians sit near the BDR figure, while at distribution and financial companies more of the titles are managers who close their own deals.
4. Pay by city
| Metro | US roles posting pay | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Washington DC | 26 | $210,249 |
| San Francisco Bay Area | 86 | $160,000 |
| New York | 123 | $127,500 |
| Chicago | 26 | $95,500 |
| Austin | 25 | $90,000 |
| Boston | 31 | $85,000 |
Washington's figure reflects its seats at defense and government technology companies (Anduril Industries posted seven of the 26), half of them at director level.
5. The companies hiring, and what they post
The companies with the most open business development roles in every country on 1 November 2026 were TD SYNNEX (73), Mastercard (50), Gartner (47), Yell (45), SGS (40), Salesforce (38), Eurofins (36), and Thermo Fisher Scientific and IQVIA (24 each).
Among companies with at least five US roles posting pay, the highest medians were Palo Alto Networks ($259,550), U.S. Bank ($237,500), Anduril Industries ($232,750), 3M ($209,168), Siemens Healthineers ($193,526), AppLovin ($191,250), The Trade Desk ($172,400) and IQVIA ($170,150). Salesforce's priced business development roles, mostly early-career BDR and associate seats, posted a median of $65,065.
6. How business development pay is earned
BDR seats are paid a base with a variable part for meetings booked or pipeline created, often about a third of the total; manager and director seats are paid on the revenue or the deals they bring in. Ask what the variable pays on, how it is measured, and how quickly people in the seat are promoted. The guide What is OTE explains base, variable and quota.
7. How these figures were counted
- The roles: every open role on this board on 1 November 2026 whose title says business development or BDR, read from each company's own careers system and checked every hour: 2,374 roles, 1,009 of them open to US candidates and 619 of those stating pay. The level comes from the title's words (representative, executive, manager, director); what the company sells from the company; the city from the posted location.
- The pay: the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, and the median across the US roles in each group.
These figures describe one day; the business development jobs page always shows the current roles and pay.
8. Quick answers
How much does a business development representative make? On this board, US BDR and business development representative postings state a median of $75,000 a year, with the middle half between $62,500 and $90,000 (1 November 2026).
How much does a business development manager make? US business development manager postings state a median of $152,500, with the middle half between $115,500 and $172,000.
How much does a director of business development make? Directors, vice presidents and heads of business development post a median of $195,513.
Is business development the same as sales? Business development is part of sales: representatives find new prospects for the sales team, and managers and directors win new customers, markets or partners.
Where can I see business development jobs? The business development jobs page lists every open seat with the pay it posts.