How much do compliance officers make in 2026?
Compliance officers are counted in SOC 13-1041, where OEWS May 2025 reports a national median of $80,730 a year ($38.81 an hour), a 10th percentile near $48,220 and a 90th percentile of $133,720. This is one of the broadest series in the survey at 417,070 people, and the breadth is the story: it pools environmental compliance, financial services compliance, healthcare and life sciences compliance, licensing and permitting, transportation compliance, government contract compliance and general regulatory work into a single wage row. Those are different labour markets. Financial services and life sciences compliance sit well above the median because the regulatory regimes are dense, enforcement is active and the penalties are large; licensing, permitting and general administrative compliance sit below it. Within any regime, pay follows the depth of your regulatory knowledge, whether you own a programme or execute checks, and your exposure to examinations, inspections and enforcement. Compliance officers who have taken an organisation through a regulatory examination and out the other side are valued very differently from those who maintain a checklist. Employment is projected to grow 3% through 2034 with roughly 33,300 openings a year. → Full compliance officer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $80,730 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Compliance Officers earn a national median $80,730/yr ($38.81/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-1041); the P10 to P90 range is $48,220 to $133,720.
- The $80,730 median comes from one of the broadest series in the survey — 417,070 people spanning environmental, financial, healthcare, licensing, transportation and government compliance in a single wage row.
- Industry is the dominant pay variable: financial services and life sciences compliance sit well above the median, while licensing, permitting and general administrative compliance sit below it.
- Programme ownership and examination exposure, rather than checklist execution, are what move a compliance officer up the $48,220 to $133,720 band.
US Compliance Officer Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do compliance officers 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 13-1041; 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 13-1041, 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 officer earn at each career stage?
Compliance pay follows regulatory regime, programme ownership and enforcement exposure. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 13-1041, a very broad series spanning many compliance disciplines.
By State
Which states pay compliance officers the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations, and the series is broad enough that the modelled figures should be read loosely. What matters far more than state is regime: the industry you are regulated under sets the pay level, and the same officer moving from licensing to financial services compliance changes market bands entirely.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($92,840), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay compliance officers the most?
Metro figures are modeled — national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. The genuine metro effect is industry concentration: financial centres and life sciences clusters pay compliance officers above the national picture because that is where the demanding regimes are.
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 officer’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 officer pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Compliance Officers 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 officer wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a compliance officer 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 Officer Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
Compliance Officer career research journey
Do your homework, then let the network do the rest.Get the job, then keep rising
FreeSet your intent, matching jobs come to you. No applying.
A roadmap to your next licence tier and higher pay band.
Once placed, we cover all certification, licence & career-guide fees.
Hiring compliance officers?
Get a verified shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates in 48 hours
GlobalCybers verifies active state licenses, trade certifications, Intent and right-to-work status before any candidate reaches your portal. Flat $2,999/mo RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), up to 3 concurrent roles, or a free trial (pay on hire). 90-day written guarantee.
Related · Compliance Officer
Everything for compliance officers in one place
Salary data, licensing, interview prep, and hiring, all cross-linked so you (and search engines) can move through the full compliance officer cluster.