How much do compliance counsels make in 2026?
Compliance counsel are counted within the BLS lawyers series: OEWS May 2025 gives SOC 23-1011 a national median of $159,670 a year ($76.76 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $78,360 and the top 10% at $351,600 across 754,500 lawyers. The code covers every kind of legal practice, so it does not isolate compliance work. What defines this role is that it is a legal position embedded in a regulated business: designing and running the compliance programme, advising on the specific regime the employer lives under, conducting internal investigations, handling regulator interaction and doing it all as a qualified lawyer rather than as a compliance professional. The sector determines the pay more than anything else. Financial services, pharmaceutical and medical device, and healthcare providers operating under corporate integrity obligations fund these roles most heavily, because the regulatory consequence of failure is measured in nine figures. Reporting line matters too, and it is a genuine structural question: compliance counsel reporting into the general counsel keep privilege intact but may be seen as legal rather than independent, while those reporting into a chief compliance officer gain independence and lose some privilege protection. Senior roles combining both a legal qualification and programme ownership sit in the upper quartile of this band. Employment is projected to grow 4.1% through 2034 with roughly 31,500 openings a year. → Full compliance counsel career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $159,670 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Compliance Counsels earn a national median $159,670/yr ($76.76/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 23-1011); the P10 to P90 range is $78,360 to $351,600.
- Sector sets the pay: financial services, pharmaceutical and medical device, and healthcare providers under integrity obligations fund these roles far above the general market.
- The reporting line is a structural trade — into the general counsel preserves privilege, into a chief compliance officer buys independence — and it affects both the role and its market value.
- Combining a legal qualification with genuine programme ownership, rather than advisory work alone, is what moves compliance counsel into the upper quartile of the pooled $78,360 to $351,600 band.
US Compliance Counsel Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do compliance counsels earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 23-1011; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 23-1011, 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.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a compliance counsel earn at each career stage?
Compliance counsel pay follows the regulatory regime you own and the consequences of getting it wrong. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 23-1011.
By State
Which states pay compliance counsels the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the national lawyer median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Compliance counsel demand tracks the location of regulated employers rather than general wage levels, so states hosting banking, insurance or pharmaceutical headquarters carry disproportionate numbers of these roles.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($183,620), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay compliance counsels the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. These roles cluster tightly around financial and life sciences centres and around the regulators themselves.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a compliance counsel’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does compliance counsel pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Compliance Counsels sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify compliance counsel wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a compliance counsel actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Compliance Counsel Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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