Regulatory Affairs Specialist Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Regulatory Affairs Specialists earn a median of $80,730 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 58% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $38.81/hr. The middle half earn between $61,280 and $109,010. The top 10% earn $133,720 or more.

The median hourly wage for regulatory affairs specialists is $38.81 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $80,730 annual median works out to about $6,730 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of regulatory affairs specialists earn less than $48,220 a year and the bottom quarter less than $61,280 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Some do. $100,000 sits between the median ($80,730) and the 75th percentile ($109,010), so roughly a quarter to a half of regulatory affairs specialists earn more than that (BLS OEWS, May 2025). In 3 states the median itself is above $100,000: District of Columbia ($111,030), Massachusetts ($102,060), New Jersey ($100,000).

The highest state medians for Regulatory Affairs Specialists are District of Columbia ($111,030), Massachusetts ($102,060), New Jersey ($100,000) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split regulatory affairs specialists' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $133,720, against a median of $80,730 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are District of Columbia ($111,030), Massachusetts ($102,060), New Jersey ($100,000). BLS also counts a specialty career inside this occupation (clinical research associate), which shares its federal pay figures.

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Regulatory Affairs Specialists, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as considerable preparation. BLS also lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 80.0% hold bachelor's degree.

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for regulatory affairs specialists is a bachelor's degree. Once hired, BLS lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical. O*NET classes the work as needing considerable preparation.

It is stable rather than fast-growing: employment is projected to change 3.8% over 2025–2035, about the same as the 3.5% projected across all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 32,700 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Compliance officers make sure that people and organizations meet legal and regulatory requirements. A core O*NET task: coordinate, prepare, or review regulatory submissions for domestic or international projects. Employers most often ask for Data base user interface and query software, Development environment software, Document management software.

Most work more than 40. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 56% of regulatory affairs specialists usually work more than 40 hours a week, 44% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 85% say their schedule is regular and 15% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Regulatory Affairs Specialists highest on the Conventional, Enterprising and Investigative interest areas, so the work mixes organising, following procedures and working precisely with data with leading, persuading, selling and making decisions. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ESTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

Women make up 52.7% of regulatory affairs specialists, against 47.1% of all employed people: more women than in the workforce as a whole. 29.2% are 55 or older (23.2% across all jobs), so a larger-than-usual share of the workforce reaches retirement age over the next decade. Those exits are counted in the BLS openings figure. The median worker is 47.3 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.