Independent research by the DCM Institute has found that the size of a retirement village does increase the likelihood of a Village Manager earning more money.

The average salary of a Village Manager is $96,639 according to the survey by australiaonline.com which canvassed 186 retirement village and community managers across Australia. The pay of Village Managers in NSW and Queensland is virtually the same.

Those Village Managers working at communities with 200-plus units were paid on average, more than $33,000 more a year than a Village Manager in charge of a community with less than 80 residents.

There is very little difference in pay between the pay of Village Managers working for Not For Profits to their counterparts working at For Profits, with the For Profit Village Managers earning an extra $2,500 per year on average ($97,836 to $95,323 for NFPs).

The salary of a Village Manager in metropolitan areas is over $7,000 more than their counterparts in the regions.

But overall, only 38% of people surveyed said they were satisfied with their pay.

As the opinion piece states, the rate of pay is still below the average $110,000 wage for a property manager in Australia, which generally is less demanding.

The survey also found 24% of Village Managers indicated they did not want to be in the role in 12 months and 42% said they would not be in the position in three years.

There are 640 Village Manager positions (including maternity leave) available on seek.com.au, including roles at Arcadia, Aura Holdings, Eureka Group, Lendlease, Levande, MercyCare, Respect Group, Seasons and Summerset Group.

We will have more on the survey results in the Tuesday SOURCE over the next three weeks.