Clinical Research Associate Salary 2026,
What Clinical Research Associates Actually Earn

How much do clinical research associates make in 2026?

Clinical research associates are counted in the BLS medical scientists, except epidemiologists series: OEWS May 2025 gives SOC 19-1042 a national median of $103,410 a year ($49.72 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $64,800 and the top 10% at $177,780 across 172,340 workers. That code covers medical research broadly, including doctorate-level investigators, so CRAs generally sit in its lower and middle portion rather than at the top. The role is clinical trial monitoring under Good Clinical Practice: visiting investigator sites, verifying that the data reported matches the source records, checking informed consent documentation, confirming that the investigational product is accounted for and stored correctly, identifying protocol deviations and ensuring they are addressed. It is the mechanism by which a sponsor demonstrates that trial data can be relied upon, and it carries genuine regulatory weight. Two things define the working life. The first is travel: traditional monitoring involves substantial time away, and although risk-based and remote monitoring have reduced it, the field-based role remains travel-heavy. The second is that the entry route is a genuine barrier — sponsors and contract research organisations want prior monitoring experience, and breaking in usually means starting at a site or in an in-house clinical role. Employment is projected to grow 8.7% through 2034 with roughly 9,600 openings a year. → Full clinical research associate career guide, career path, credentials & placement →

Note: $103,410 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.

Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 19-1042, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.

Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.

State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.

No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.

Full site methodology & data sources →