How Much Do Medical Directors Make?

Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary medical directors make, you've come to the right place.

Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for medical directors and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of medical directors are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much medical directors can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Medical Directors

According to data from 2023, there were about 534,489 positions for medical directors in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for medical directors was reported to be $110,677. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 508,076 job postings related to positions for medical directors.

How Much Money Do Medical Directors Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money medical directors and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.

Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for medical directors.

Annual Salary for Medical Directors

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for medical directors and related professions earned about $67,912 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $216,757 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for medical directors in the United States in 2023 was $110,677.

Hourly Salary for Medical Directors

The BLS also breaks down compensation for medical directors by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for medical directors in 2023 was $53. Lowest hourly earners took home $33 while the highest reported hourly salaries for medical directors was $104.

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Degree Options for Medical Directors

Advertised Compensation for Medical Directors

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for medical directors, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for medical directors.

Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™

Annual Salary from Job Postings for Medical Directors

During a review of 461,000 job postings related to medical directors, advertised salary was included in 141,058 of them, which was 31%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for medical directors was $90,496 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Medical Directors

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for medical directors. Based on 28% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for medical directors in the United States is about $44.

Salary Trend for Medical Directors

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for medical directors. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.

Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for medical directors dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for medical directors have increased 39%.

What's the Job Growth for Medical Directors?

Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for medical directors over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 534,944 jobs for medical directors in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 161,600 jobs will be added. That's a 30.2% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about medical directors? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for medical directors.

What do medical directors do?
Medical Directors: How do you become one?

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