Salary guide, May 2025

Regulatory Affairs Manager pay, United States

Manufacturing Headhunters uses the published BLS OEWS figures below. They describe the mapped occupation and area, not an individual offer.

This is what we do all day: recruit manufacturing professionals.

The median annual wage for Managers, All Other in the United States was $141,900 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of workers earned between $102,880 and $186,300.

Also searched as: RA Manager, Regulatory Affairs Specialist. These titles share this page because BLS reports them under one occupation.

Broader occupation · SOC 11-9199 Managers, All Other

BLS measures this broader occupation across industries. It does not publish a separate wage for this manufacturing title.

Managers, All Other in U.S.: median $141,900; published 25th to 75th percentile $102,880 to $186,300.

Annual wage percentiles, U.S.
10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
$74,300	$102,880	$141,900	$186,300	$238,270

Managers, All Other in U.S.: median $68.22; published 25th to 75th percentile $49.46 to $89.57.

Hourly wage percentiles, U.S.
10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
$35.72	$49.46	$68.22	$89.57	$114.55

BLS estimated 622,190 workers employed in this occupation in the United States.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. SOC 11-9199 Managers, All Other, U.S.. Official occupation data · Official area tables. Released 2026-05-15.

How does pay compare in the target metros?

Regulatory Affairs Manager pay in target metros (May 2025)
Metro	Median	25th to 75th	Employment	Location quotient
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$106,880	$77,590 to $162,530	11,360	1.01
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$117,810	$74,060 to $163,050	5,980	1.03
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$122,930	$78,800 to $168,970	5,610	0.99
Raleigh-Cary, NC	$147,370	$109,470 to $199,760	4,320	1.45
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$169,800	$128,770 to $218,090	34,400	0.91
Northern New Jersey within New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$169,800	$128,770 to $218,090	34,400	0.91
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$139,810	$104,100 to $179,000	19,890	1.23
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$145,370	$109,590 to $189,350	26,170	1.45

Rank every metro for Regulatory Affairs Manager

What should you know about pay by manufacturing industry, United States?

Same BLS occupation, national estimates for each manufacturing industry (NAICS) BLS publishes, May 2025. Industry names are BLS labels. Nested NAICS rows overlap; they are not independent samples and must not be added together. Identical source rows repeated at different publication levels appear once.

Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing (NAICS 334000)$192,620
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing (NAICS 336000)$176,980
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing (NAICS 324000)$171,620
Miscellaneous Manufacturing (NAICS 339000)$167,270
Chemical Manufacturing (NAICS 325000)$165,270
Machinery Manufacturing (NAICS 333000)$164,040
Apparel Manufacturing (NAICS 315000)$139,980
Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing (NAICS 335000)$137,370
Primary Metal Manufacturing (NAICS 331000)$132,650
Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing (NAICS 312000)$131,920
Textile Mills (NAICS 313000)$131,000
Paper Manufacturing (NAICS 322000)$130,430
Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing (NAICS 326000)$126,710
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (NAICS 337000)$125,530
Food Manufacturing (NAICS 311000)$125,200

Bars compare up to 15 non-overlapping 3-digit manufacturing subsectors with exact annual medians. More detailed scopes remain in the table, identified by code and publication level.

Regulatory Affairs Manager (SOC 11-9199) by manufacturing industry, national, May 2025
NAICS / scope	Industry	Employment	25th	Median	75th
31-33 · sector	Manufacturing	45,220	$121,950	$163,860	$210,040
334000 · 3-digit	Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing	8,700	$155,090	$192,620	$227,550
325000 · 3-digit	Chemical Manufacturing	8,660	$129,320	$165,270	$212,000
336000 · 3-digit	Transportation Equipment Manufacturing	6,440	$137,090	$176,980	$219,630
325400 · 4-digit	Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing	4,770	$138,450	$171,170	$221,790
334500 · 4-digit	Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing	4,570	$163,880	$202,090	$224,530
336400 · 4-digit	Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	4,530	$167,770	$188,440	$222,570
333000 · 3-digit	Machinery Manufacturing	3,830	$116,080	$164,040	$201,640
339000 · 3-digit	Miscellaneous Manufacturing	3,370	$128,490	$167,270	$210,310
3250A1 · 4-digit	Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only)	2,960	$124,090	$155,310	$179,600
3330A1 · 4-digit	Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)	2,960	$115,620	$164,260	$198,400
311000 · 3-digit	Food Manufacturing	2,870	$97,860	$125,200	$164,890
339100 · 4-digit	Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing	2,720	$135,150	$171,160	$214,460
334400 · 4-digit	Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing	2,200	$143,740	$197,920	$236,080
332000 · 3-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing	2,120	$90,490	$117,320	$146,280
324000 · 3-digit	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	1,630	$141,100	$171,620	$215,310
324100 · 4-digit	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	1,630	$141,100	$171,620	$215,310
335000 · 3-digit	Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing	1,540	$107,890	$137,370	$187,400
326000 · 3-digit	Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing	1,360	$99,650	$126,710	$162,030
326100 · 4-digit	Plastics Product Manufacturing	1,090	$100,360	$126,360	$162,480
3320A1 · 4-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)	1,020	$99,590	$124,000	$155,430
334100 · 4-digit	Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing	990	$150,730	$182,630	$238,270
3250A2 · 4-digit	Chemical Manufacturing (3255 and 3256 only)	930	$99,590	$131,710	$167,890
327000 · 3-digit	Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing	850	$83,200	$123,710	$150,850
322000 · 3-digit	Paper Manufacturing	840	$105,200	$130,430	$158,560
336300 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing	800	$106,840	$128,990	$160,970
311900 · 4-digit	Other Food Manufacturing	740	$101,990	$131,170	$181,250
334200 · 4-digit	Communications Equipment Manufacturing	720	$139,720	$173,590	$213,700
3320A2 · 4-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)	670	$91,680	$111,680	$144,110
339900 · 4-digit	Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing	650	$95,050	$125,960	$166,590
312000 · 3-digit	Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing	590	$97,330	$131,920	$169,770
335900 · 4-digit	Other Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing	580	$115,450	$151,670	$206,020
312100 · 4-digit	Beverage Manufacturing	570	$96,640	$129,270	$169,240
335300 · 4-digit	Electrical Equipment Manufacturing	570	$106,820	$135,620	$191,390
336100 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Manufacturing	550	$131,710	$160,440	$213,570
321000 · 3-digit	Wood Product Manufacturing	540	$84,500	$119,800	$152,930
333300 · 4-digit	Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing	520	$123,550	$170,890	$221,010
323000 · 3-digit	Printing and Related Support Activities	510	$69,690	$106,960	$159,540
323100 · 4-digit	Printing and Related Support Activities	510	$69,690	$106,960	$159,540
331000 · 3-digit	Primary Metal Manufacturing	510	$107,120	$132,650	$163,200
311800 · 4-digit	Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing	480	$91,160	$120,870	$139,510
322200 · 4-digit	Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	480	$101,850	$124,640	$147,020
311600 · 4-digit	Animal Slaughtering and Processing	450	$95,980	$113,160	$139,660
337000 · 3-digit	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing	440	$99,860	$125,530	$165,140
3370A1 · 4-digit	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)	410	$98,810	$125,530	$158,230
322100 · 4-digit	Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills	360	$112,240	$137,050	$164,210
311400 · 4-digit	Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing	340	$99,970	$133,680	$172,330
321900 · 4-digit	Other Wood Product Manufacturing	300	$73,350	$105,470	$137,080
332700 · 4-digit	Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing	300	$79,760	$102,390	$130,930
311200 · 4-digit	Grain and Oilseed Milling	280	$99,750	$128,890	$165,510
326200 · 4-digit	Rubber Product Manufacturing	270	$97,030	$127,380	$160,620
336600 · 4-digit	Ship and Boat Building	240	$85,790	$109,190	$163,750
332710 · 5-digit	Machine Shops	220	$76,520	$96,760	$124,990
333600 · 4-digit	Engine, Turbine, and Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing	220	$133,750	$169,090	$201,640
335200 · 4-digit	Household Appliance Manufacturing	220	$100,290	$129,450	$169,210
311500 · 4-digit	Dairy Product Manufacturing	190	$111,990	$134,840	$172,830
334300 · 4-digit	Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing	160	$138,130	$171,770	$214,540
335100 · 4-digit	Electric Lighting Equipment Manufacturing	160	$108,760	$127,680	$167,790
311700 · 4-digit	Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging	150	$72,860	$99,760	$134,120
313000 · 3-digit	Textile Mills	150	$96,420	$131,000	$171,000
311300 · 4-digit	Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing	140	$114,410	$131,090	$170,010
315000 · 3-digit	Apparel Manufacturing	140	$101,070	$139,980	$177,340
333500 · 4-digit	Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing	140	$87,090	$124,710	$168,190
336500 · 4-digit	Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing	140	$133,110	$158,290	$200,480
321200 · 4-digit	Veneer, Plywood, and Engineered Wood Product Manufacturing	130	$97,180	$121,090	$152,710
331300 · 4-digit	Alumina and Aluminum Production and Processing	130	$108,700	$143,670	$179,290
336200 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing	130	$97,010	$125,020	$157,330
315200 · 4-digit	Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	120	$123,170	$143,680	$211,960
332800 · 4-digit	Coating, Engraving, Heat Treating, and Allied Activities	120	$66,940	$83,210	$134,650
314000 · 3-digit	Textile Product Mills	110	$82,890	$109,970	$155,820
331400 · 4-digit	Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Production and Processing	110	$125,790	$143,510	$173,070
311100 · 4-digit	Animal Food Manufacturing	100	$106,360	$136,520	$211,550
321100 · 4-digit	Sawmills and Wood Preservation	100	$118,870	$148,150	$160,000
331200 · 4-digit	Steel Product Manufacturing from Purchased Steel	100	$91,720	$110,770	$147,510
331500 · 4-digit	Foundries	100	$99,080	$122,390	$143,620
313200 · 4-digit	Fabric Mills	80	$107,080	$131,100	$166,190
331100 · 4-digit	Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing	80	$109,100	$126,490	$156,830
332720 · 5-digit	Turned Product and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing	80	$90,760	$130,500	$145,620
314100 · 4-digit	Textile Furnishings Mills	70	$92,680	$133,870	$172,300
336900 · 4-digit	Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing	50	$86,720	$104,190	$128,790
313300 · 4-digit	Textile and Fabric Finishing and Fabric Coating Mills	40	$101,240	$151,640	$202,500
314900 · 4-digit	Other Textile Product Mills	40	$76,350	$99,670	$109,990
313100 · 4-digit	Fiber, Yarn, and Thread Mills	30	$83,170	$96,920	$126,650
334600 · 4-digit	Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media	Not published by BLS	$89,900	$92,330	$144,160

What should you know about manufacturing pay mix?

For Regulatory Affairs Manager, clarify the base pay before discussing call-outs, travel or extra shifts. OEWS measures straight-time gross wages, not pure base salary or total compensation. It includes base rate, guaranteed pay, commissions and production bonuses. It excludes overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits.

An attendance bonus is not a production bonus; confirm its purpose and treatment rather than adding every bonus to the BLS figure. Skills-based pay steps affect the base rate when they are part of straight-time pay; BLS does not publish a separate rate for each plant's skill grade. Ask whether a tool allowance is expense reimbursement or wage pay. OEWS does not publish a separate tool-allowance component. Keep these items separate in the offer so the published wage is not mistaken for the whole package.

Pay mix here means how published medians for this one BLS occupation differ across manufacturing industries and against the all-industry median. It does not split pay into base, incentive or overtime. BLS wages are straight-time gross pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials and nonproduction bonuses.

What should you know about two BLS releases?

Regulatory Affairs Manager in the United States, annual wages, May 2024 and May 2025
Release period	25th	Median	75th
May 2024	$100,010	$136,550	$179,190
May 2025	$102,880	$141,900	$186,300

These are two separate BLS estimates from different survey panels. The workers and employers behind them differ, so the gap is not like-for-like pay for the same workers and is not a growth rate. We show no percentage change.

Recruiter's read. Qualitative, not BLS data.

What should you know about change control judgment?

Most daily regulatory work is not a submission. It is deciding whether a supplier swap, a software patch or a sterilization site move changes the cleared device. We probe how they assess changes, who signs, where the rationale is recorded and what they did when an engineer had already shipped the change.

The answer reveals whether they are a gatekeeper who slows the plant or a partner who gets decisions made early.

What should you know about questions?

Wages for the OEWS survey are straight-time, gross pay, exclusive of premium pay. Base rate; cost-of-living allowances; guaranteed pay; hazardous-duty pay; incentive pay, including commissions and production bonuses; and tips are included. Excluded are overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, employer cost for supplementary benefits, and tuition reimbursements.

What is the median pay for a Regulatory Affairs Manager?

The median annual wage for Managers, All Other in the United States was $141,900 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of workers earned between $102,880 and $186,300. This is the broader occupation BLS publishes, not a figure for this exact title.

What does the 10th percentile mean here?

10% of workers in this occupation and area earned less than $74,300. 90% earned less than $238,270.

Does this include overtime or bonuses?

Is this the pay for a Regulatory Affairs Manager at a plant?

BLS measures this broader occupation across industries. It does not publish a separate wage for this manufacturing title. These are occupation estimates across all industries, not an offer for a particular manufacturing title.

How many people work in this occupation?

BLS estimated 622,190 workers employed in this occupation in the United States.

What should you know about related?

VP of Quality / Chief Quality Officer pay Director of Quality pay Quality Manager pay QC Manager pay Quality Engineer pay Regulatory Affairs Manager pay ranked across all metros Open jobs Regulatory Affairs Manager recruiting Check an offer for this role

Underlying BLS figures for this role (JSON)

Reading this wage estimate

What does this data mean for your opening?

Regulatory Affairs Manager tasks are mapped to the Managers, All Other category, 11-9199. For Regulatory Affairs Manager in the United States, releases are separate survey estimates. The May 2025 median is $141,900; the May 2024 median is $136,550. Their arithmetic difference is $5,350. They are not the same workers' raises and do not establish a pay trend or its cause.

For Regulatory Affairs Manager in the United States, percentiles describe the wage distribution of the mapped occupation. The published middle interval is $102,880 to $186,300 annually. They do not assign pay to plant size, seniority, credentials or job complexity. Assess duties and candidate requirements separately; these rows do not measure a premium for them. The broader scope of the 11-9199 classification means this data encompasses many diverse managerial roles beyond the specialized scope of 510(k) or PMA submissions and EU MDR requirements.

Industry insights reveal distinct benchmarks: Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing reports a median of $202,090, while Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing shows a median of $197,920. Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing reports a median of $192,620. These manufacturing rows represent national medians for the broad occupational code and do not account for individual regulatory professional certifications like the RAPS RAC or specific regulatory affairs experience.

Comparison metros Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV and New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ report medians of $170,980 and $169,800 respectively. The Washington metro displays a location quotient of 3.35, while New York reports 0.91. Manufacturing Headhunters notes that the high Washington location quotient reflects a dense cluster of general management and regulatory-adjacent roles. It is vital to note that these figures describe the 11-9199 occupational grouping rather than the specific salary for a manufacturing-focused regulatory manager. The data provides a broad ceiling for compensation expectations, yet users must acknowledge that the BLS does not track the specific impact of clinical or regulatory manufacturing experience on individual pay outcomes.

Which pay questions should you settle before hiring?

Why does the electronic component industry show higher median pay?

The electronic component manufacturing sector reports a median of $197,920, significantly higher than the national median of $141,900 for the 11-9199 category. This suggests higher compensation for management roles within that specific, highly regulated sector.

How should I interpret the Washington, DC metro data?

The Washington area has a location quotient of 3.35 for Managers, All Other, indicating a high concentration of management roles. This concentration does not directly correlate to a specific wage for Regulatory Affairs Managers.

Does this data reflect specific regulatory affairs certifications?

No, the OEWS data does not account for professional certifications such as the RAPS RAC. It provides a general salary outlook for the broad 11-9199 category.