An HR business partner oversees a wide range of HR processes, ensuring they align with corporate strategies and liaising with senior management to tune policies. Explore the factors that determine the average HR business partner salary.
A human resources (HR) department is critical for many organizations. Professionals in this department oversee various employee processes, including hiring, training, payroll, benefits, compliance, and corporate culture. HR also aligns an organization’s employee strategy with its business strategy.
HR professionals also help evaluate pay raises and promotions to ensure the best and brightest employees are fairly compensated and move upward within the organization. This department often includes an HR business partner, a senior leader who works with other leadership to help align HR strategies with the organization’s goals.
Explore what an HR business partner does and the average annual HR business partner salary. Discover the factors that impact your salary and how to maximize your earnings in your career.
As a senior leader in the HR department, an HR business partner teams with other organizational leaders and C-suite executives to ensure the alignment of organizational goals and HR strategies. In this role, you can focus on these larger goals because you're free from many administrative duties of other HR professionals.
An HR business partner’s work constantly evolves, impacting everything from recruiting and hiring to overseeing benefits and employer compliance. Instead of managing the day-to-day parts of these tasks like other HR specialists or managers, the HR business partner deals with the overarching company mission and how these roles fit into the overall business strategy.
Although many factors determine your earnings, having a basic idea of what to expect can be helpful. The average base salary for an HR business partner in the United States ranges from $81,000 to $110,000 annually, according to several career and salary aggregators [1, 2, 3, 4]:
Payscale | Zippia | Indeed | Glassdoor |
---|---|---|---|
$81,253 | $86,363 | $95,306 | $110,671 |
Your specific HR business partner salary may vary based on various factors, much like other roles in the US. Explore these variables and see how they impact the average salary of HR business partners.
Organizations typically require an HR business partner to have a bachelor’s degree in business, human resources management, or a related field. According to Zippia, 5 percent have an associate degree [5]. However, the vast majority have a higher degree, with 71 percent of HR business partners having a bachelor’s degree and 21 percent with a master’s degree [5].
Discover how education level can impact the average HR partner salary below [2]:
Associate degree: $80,364
Bachelor’s degree: $92,552
Master’s degree: $101,530
Read more: What Can I Expect from a Human Resources Degree?
You can easily show your competence as an HR business partner with the proper certifications. Having extra credentials can also help set you apart from other applicants, and it may increase your earning power. A few common certifications for HR business partners and the average base salaries related to them include the following:
Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP): $69,000 [6]
SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP): $78,000 [7]
SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP): $106,000 [8]
HRCI Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR): $109,000 [9]
HRCI Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR): $120,000 [10]
As you work in HR over time, you’ll accumulate more knowledge of the field. This knowledge may help you work more effectively and prove valuable to an organization, leading to a higher salary. The following offers a look at how your years of experience can impact the average HR business partner base salary, according to data provided by Glassdoor [4]:
0–1 years: $76,542
1–3 years: $84,927
4–6 years: $93,440
7–9 years: $104,846
10–14 years: $123,131
15 or more years: $138,484
Another factor that can impact an HR business partner’s salary is location, as some companies may compensate based on the cost of living, income taxes, and demand for the position in that area. The following are the top five highest-paying states, according to Zippia [2]:
California: $106,598
New York: $106,315
Washington: $101,689
New Jersey: $97,752
District of Columbia: $97,429
If you’re willing to relocate to a new city for a job and are looking to maximize your annual income, Zippia lists these 10 cities as the highest-paying cities for HR business partners [2]:
San Francisco, CA: $117,351
New York, NY: $106,733
Seattle, WA: $102,461
Newark, NJ: $97,728
Washington, DC: $97,469
Providence, RI: $93,964
Boston, MA: $92,422
Houston, TX: $92,187
Columbus, GA: $89,475
Philadelphia, PA: $88,869
Another factor that impacts salaries nationwide, including those for HR business partners, is the industry in which you work. It can vary due to the working conditions, clientele, required training, and other factors that differ between sectors.
Suppose you want to maximize your income potential. In that case, you may want to consider one of these high-paying industries for HR business partners, with salary information reported by Zippia [2]:
Finance: $99,409
Technology: $98,874
Manufacturing: $94,426
Retail: $88,664
Professional: $86,261
In the overarching world of human resources, HR business partners fall under human resources management. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects the HR management career field to grow by 6 percent between 2023 and 2033, faster than the average for US careers. The BLS anticipates an average of 17,400 openings for HR manager roles annually in that time frame, mostly due to workers moving into new jobs or retiring [11].
Human resources is a broad department within many organizations and can include many job titles. Review some of these related job titles and their respective average salaries:
Average annual base US salary: $78,741 [12]
Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 6 percent [11]
Typical education: Bachelor’s degree and four to six years of HR experience
An HR officer has a critical role in the business since they fill empty organizational positions. In this role, you will help manage the process, from crafting an employment ad to setting a salary to handling recruiting and initial interviewing. In this position, you may also play a role in setting up HR policies to align with a business’s needs.
Average annual base US salary: $75,392 [13]
Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 6 percent [11]
Typical education: Bachelor’s degree and five or more years of HR experience
An HR administration manager or HR and administration manager helps guide the HR policies within an organization. You are the employees' primary point of contact when an issue arises, particularly in human rights cases. You also manage all the legal documents related to employee records and company HR records. You may also oversee recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting employees, ensuring your organization follows all hiring and labor laws.
Average annual US salary: $69,458 [14]
Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 6 percent [11]
Typical education: Bachelor’s degree and two to four years of HR experience
A human resources analyst is the technical guru of the HR department, using specialized tech to compile and analyze HR department data. Duties may include things like hiring statistics, turnover, and legal compliance. The HR analyst then uses this data to present possible changes to senior management to avoid legal complications, improve efficiency, create or update hiring plans, adjust compensation, and more. As an HR analyst, you may also participate in other HR functions, such as budget setting, staffing, training, and more.
If you want to start your career in human resources, or more specifically as an HR business partner, consider the factors that may affect your average annual earnings. Where you live, your education level, and prior experience affect how much you earn each year in this position.
Consider taking courses and completing certificates to help you get a better feel for this role and the skills needed to excel in human resources. Explore the University of Minnesota’s Human Resources Management: HR for People Managers Specialization, which may build your management skills and ability to develop hiring strategies. It includes several courses, such as Preparing to Manage Human Resources, that can help aspiring HR professionals become better managers. You can find these options and more on Coursera.
Payscale. “Average Human Resources (HR) Business Partner Salary, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Human_Resources_(HR)_Business_Partner/Salary?loggedIn.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Zippia. “Human Resources Business Partner Salary, https://www.zippia.com/human-resources-business-partner-jobs/salary/#.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Indeed. “Human resources business partner salary in United States, https://www.indeed.com/career/human-resources-business-partner/salaries?from=top_sb.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Glassdoor. “HR Business Partner Salaries, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-hr-business-partner-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,22.htm?clickSource=searchBtn.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Zippia. “How to Become a Human Resources Business Partner, https://www.zippia.com/human-resources-business-partner-jobs/how-to-become-a-human-resources-business-partner/.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Payscale. “Salary for Certification: Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP), https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Certification=Certified_Human_Resources_Professional_(CHRP)/Salary.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Payscale. “Salary for Certification: SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Certification=SHRM_Certified_Professional_(SHRM-CP)/Salary.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Payscale. “Salary for Certification: SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Certification=SHRM_Senior_Certified_Professional_(SHRM-SCP)/Salary.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Payscale. “Salary for Certification: Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Certification=Senior_Professional_in_Human_Resources_(SPHR)/Salary.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Payscale. “Salary for Certification: Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR), https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Certification=Global_Professional_in_Human_Resources_(GPHR)/Salary.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Human Resources Managers, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/human-resources-managers.htm.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Glassdoor. “Human Resources Officer Salary, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/human-resources-officer-salary-SRCH_KO0,23.htm.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Glassdoor. “Human Resources and Administration Manager Salary, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-human-resources-administration-manager-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,41.htm?clickSource=searchBtn.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
Glassdoor, “Human Resources Analyst, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-human-resources-analyst-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,26.htm?clickSource=searchBtn.” Accessed January 28, 2025.
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