This research tests the validity of the assertion in the public administration literature that the career progressions of city managers consistently begin with service as an assistant to a city manager, lead to managing a small city, and end with city managers progressing to management of larger and larger cities until retirement. This research expands quantitatively upon recent research that suggests there are multiple career paths to becoming a city manager by effectively operationalizing city population as the independent variable and using individual city manager career progressions as the dependent variable. The intervening variables, as established and operationalized in prior research, are age, gender, tenure, education, educated in state where serving as city manager, previous city management experience, pre-city management experience, and council and mayoral electoral structure. These variables not only allow for examination of career paths, but also permit close examination of the demographic correlates of city managers according to city population. As a result, two new city manager career paths emerged, thus adding support for recent suggestions in the city management literature that there are indeed significant differences in the career paths of city managers.

Beginning with 1925 the March number of each year contains the annual proceedings of the International City Managers' Association.