With a strong potential for employment and professional growth, becoming a compliance officer may seem like an attractive career opportunity. But how much money does a compliance officer make? Compliance officer salaries vary depending on the industry, work experience, level of education, and location of employment. Use this guide to learn about average salaries, the types of compliance officers with the highest salaries and the highest paying locations.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook reports that Compliance Officer openings are projected to grow by up to 3% from 2024 to 2034, with over 33,300 job openings. Wages for Compliance Officers averaged $78,420 in 2024. 

Compliance officers work in various industries. However, they are regularly employed in industries with a high degree of regulatory oversight. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics 2024, industries with the highest employment for Compliance Officers (13-1041) include the Government, including federal, state, and local agencies. Other major industries include corporate headquarters, banking institutions, insurance companies, and consulting firms.  

 Top industries for Compliance Officers, according to BLS data, 2024, include:

Manufacturing and Media Compliance

If you are interested in production standards, quality controls, documentation, audits, and operational oversight, manufacturing and media compliance may be a strong fit. This area focuses on helping companies comply with laws, regulations, and internal standards governing how products are made, stored, labeled, and distributed. In this kind of work, you may review manufacturing processes, monitor documentation, support internal audits, investigate noncompliance issues, and help maintain safe and consistent operations.

• Common roles: Compliance officer, Quality and compliance manager, and Regulatory affairs specialist.
• Salary: Compliance officers in Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media had a median annual wage of $139,480.

Technology and Information Services Compliance

If you are drawn to digital operations, platform governance, records management, privacy, and information controls, technology and information services compliance may be of interest. This path focuses on helping organizations manage regulatory and internal requirements tied to data, content, systems, and information services. You may review policies, monitor reporting obligations, assess internal controls, and help organizations reduce legal, operational, and reputational risk.

• Common roles: Technology compliance officer, Information governance specialist, Privacy and compliance analyst.
• Salary: Compliance officers in Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services had a median annual wage of $126,240.

Energy and Utilities Compliance

If you are interested in infrastructure, public safety, environmental rules, inspections, and operational regulation, energy and utilities compliance may be a good fit. This area focuses on helping companies comply with laws and standards governing pipelines, fuel systems, utilities, and essential services. In this kind of work, you may review safety procedures, monitor environmental compliance, support audits and inspections, evaluate operational records, and help organizations meet regulatory obligations.

• Common roles: Environmental compliance officer, Utility compliance specialist, and Pipeline compliance analyst.
• Salary: Compliance officers in Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil had a median annual wage of $120,390.

Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace Compliance

If you are interested in technical production environments, safety standards, process controls, and highly regulated operations, advanced manufacturing and aerospace compliance may be worth exploring. This path focuses on helping manufacturers maintain compliance with industry rules, quality standards, documentation requirements, and internal controls. You may review procedures, monitor plant operations, support audits, investigate deviations, and help ensure products and systems meet strict performance and safety expectations.

• Common roles: Manufacturing compliance officer, Aerospace compliance specialist, Quality systems manager.
• Salary: Compliance officers in Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing had a median annual wage of $109,020.

Scientific Research and Development Compliance

If you are drawn to research oversight, protocols, documentation, ethics, and regulated innovation, scientific research and development compliance may be of interest. This area focuses on helping research organizations comply with legal, ethical, and procedural requirements related to studies, testing, reporting, and laboratory operations. In this kind of work, you may review records, monitor research practices, support internal controls, and help organizations stay aligned with regulatory and funding requirements.

• Common roles: Research compliance officer, Regulatory compliance specialist, Quality and compliance manager.
• Salary: Compliance officers in Scientific Research and Development Services had a median annual wage of $105,890.

Government Compliance

If you are interested in public policy, regulatory enforcement, audits, licensing, investigations, and oversight, government compliance may be a good fit. This area focuses on helping public agencies and regulated organizations follow laws, regulations, and administrative requirements. You may review records, monitor compliance with government standards, conduct inspections, support enforcement actions, or assist agencies in carrying out regulatory programs.

• Common roles: Regulatory compliance officer, Licensing and compliance specialist, and Government program compliance officer.
• Salary: Compliance officers in the Federal Executive Branch had a median annual wage of $103,270.

Work experience can be an important factor in the salary of compliance officers. As they gain experience and skills, compliance officers can earn higher salaries and advance to more senior positions, often in leadership roles. 

However, it’s difficult to define the exact correlation between experience and salary because of additional factors such as industry type and location. Compliance officers earning the bottom 10% of salaries made $46,230, while the highest-paid 10% earned $130,030 in 2024, according to the BLS. The mean annual salary for a compliance officer is $84,980 in 2024. 

The average salary for compliance officers can vary widely from state to state. Larger or generally more metropolitan states may have a greater demand for compliance officers. In turn, you may expect a higher mean salary in those states. Here are the states where compliance officers have the highest average pay, according to the May 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wages report for Compliance Officers.

The average salary for compliance officers can vary widely from state to state. Larger or generally more metropolitan states may have a larger demand for compliance officers. In turn, you may expect a higher mean salary in those states. Here are states where compliance officers have the highest average pay, according to the May 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics—Occupational Employment and Wages for Compliance Officers.

Salaries for compliance officers also vary by city or metropolitan area. In the table below, you will find metropolitan areas with the highest salaries based on the May 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics—Occupational Employment and Wages for Compliance Officers. Please note that as of May 2024, BLS salary data for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas is combined. 

Information on this page was last retrieved and updated in March 2026.

REFERENCES & CITATIONS

National Center for O*NET Development. National Wages: 13-1041.00 – Compliance Officers. O*NET OnLine. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://www.onetonline.org/link/localwages/13-1041.00

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2025, August 28). Compliance officers. Occupational Outlook Handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/compliance-officers.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2024). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS): Compliance officers (SOC 13-1041) [Data set]. https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm