Business and Financial Operations Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 13-1041

Compliance Officers

The published band from $48,220 to $133,720 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Personal Financial Advisors.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Compliance Officers: Personal Financial Advisors ($105K) , Logisticians ($82K) , Accountants and Auditors ($84K) , Management Analysts ($102K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Compliance Officers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 13-1041 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Issue licenses to individuals meeting standards
  2. 2. Collect fees for licenses
  3. 3. Warn violators of infractions or penalties
  4. 4. Administer oral, written, road, or flight tests to license applicants
  5. 5. Evaluate applications, records, or documents to gather information about eligibility or liability issues
  6. 6. Visit establishments to verify that valid licenses or permits are displayed and that licensing standards are being upheld
  7. 7. Advise licensees or other individuals or groups concerning licensing, permit, or passport regulations
  8. 8. Prepare reports of activities, evaluations, recommendations, or decisions
  9. 9. Score tests and observe equipment operation and control to rate ability of applicants
  10. 10. Report law or regulation violations to appropriate boards or agencies
  11. 11. Prepare correspondence to inform concerned parties of licensing decisions or appeals processes
  12. 12. Confer with or interview officials, technical or professional specialists, or applicants to obtain information or to clarify facts releva…

Compliance Officers: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 13-1041 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Law and Government. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 4.0
  2. 2. Speaking 3.9
  3. 3. Active Listening 3.8
  4. 4. Writing 3.8
  5. 5. Judgment and Decision Making 3.6
  6. 6. Critical Thinking 3.5
  7. 7. Social Perceptiveness 3.5
  8. 8. Monitoring 3.4

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Law and Government 4.1
  2. 2. English Language 4.0
  3. 3. Customer and Personal Service 3.9
  4. 4. Public Safety and Security 3.4
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 3.2
  6. 6. Administration and Management 3.1
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$48,220 to $133,720
median $80,730 · ~2.8× spread
$81K
National median
↑ +3%
Growth 2024-2034
33,300
Annual openings
417,070
Estimated US jobs
Personal Financial Advisors
Highest-pay peer · $105K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree

Top Paying States for Compliance Officers

1. Washington $88,790
2. New York $90,080
3. Connecticut $91,810
4. Delaware $91,050
5. Rhode Island $87,620
6. New Jersey $100,000
7. Vermont $90,420
8. District of Columbia $111,030
9. Massachusetts $102,060
10. California $96,980

Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations titles

  1. 1. Logisticians $82,320
  2. 2. Accountants and Auditors $83,680
  3. 3. Personal Financial Advisors $105,070
  4. 4. Management Analysts $101,860
  5. 5. Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes $82,890
  6. 6. Financial and Investment Analysts $102,740

The OEWS band for Compliance Officers runs from $48,220 (10th) to $133,720 (90th), about 2.8× wide, with median $80,730. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +3% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 33,300 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Washington at $88,790. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Personal Financial Advisors at $105,070. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Compliance Officers pay-rank #16 in Business and Financial Operations Occupations

Compliance Officers sits at pay-rank #16 of 32 detailed Business and Financial Operations Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Compliance Officers is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Compliance Officers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 13-1041

Washington · top state for Compliance Officers

$89K published median

New York · #2 state pay

$90K · behind Washington

Personal Financial Advisors

Highest-pay peer vs Compliance Officers · $105K

Logisticians

Lower-pay peer beside Compliance Officers · $82K

Compare Compliance Officers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Compliance Officers with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Compliance Officers mid-table among Business and Financial Operations Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #16 of 32 detailed Business and Financial Operations Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Financial Specialists, All Other ($81K), Insurance Underwriters ($81K), Logisticians ($82K), Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists ($79K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do compliance officers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Compliance Officers. Leading ones include: Issue licenses to individuals meeting standards; Collect fees for licenses; Warn violators of infractions or penalties; Administer oral, written, road, or flight tests to license applicants. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for compliance officers? ▼
For SOC 13-1041, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (4.0), Speaking (3.9), Active Listening (3.8), Writing (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Law and Government, English Language, Customer and Personal Service. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Compliance Officers? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $48,220 and the 90th at $133,720 for Compliance Officers (2.8× spread). The national median is $80,730. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Compliance Officers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Compliance Officers is +3%. Projected annual openings: about 33,300. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Compliance Officers? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Compliance Officers. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Compliance Officers? ▼
Washington ($88,790), New York ($90,080), Connecticut ($91,810) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Compliance Officers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 13-1041. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Compliance Officers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics