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Compensation Specialist salary

Quoted Expert
Dr. Kate Seltzer Ph.D.

Average compensation specialist salary

$67,722

$32.56 hourly rate

Entry-level compensation specialist salary
$41,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a compensation specialist make?

The average compensation specialist salary in the United States is $67,722. Compensation specialist salaries typically range between $41,000 and $110,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for compensation specialists is $32.56 per hour.

Compensation specialist salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Compensation specialists earn the highest average salary in Washington.

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Compensation specialist salary by: 

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Where can a Compensation Specialist earn more?

Compare salary by location
Vs
119k
99k
79k
59k
39k
19k
California$99,756
Omaha, NE$48,949
Compare salary by company
Vs
126k
106k
86k
66k
46k
Microsoft$110,292
New York Power Authority$75,756

Compensation Specialist salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Indeed, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, Comparably and Payscale, the average salary for a compensation specialist typically falls between $62,801 and $88,364.
zippia
$67,722yearly
glassdoor[1]
$85,672yearly
indeed[2]
$88,364yearly
comparably[3]
$62,801yearly
ZipRecruiter[4]
$73,191yearly
payscale[5]
$67,107yearly

Average compensation specialist salary by state

The highest-paying states for compensation specialists are Washington, California, and New Jersey. The lowest average compensation specialist salary states are Nebraska, Alabama, and Montana.

  • State View
  • County View
Average Salary:

Highest paying states for compensation specialists

RankStateAvg. SalaryHourly Rate
1Vermont$85,618$41.16
2Oregon$83,030$39.92
3New York$80,982$38.93
4Rhode Island$79,843$38.39
5Washington$95,737$46.03
6District of Columbia$75,797$36.44
7Idaho$75,743$36.41
8Massachusetts$80,410$38.66
9California$92,463$44.45
10New Jersey$90,531$43.52
11Nevada$71,878$34.56
12Delaware$70,812$34.04
13Alaska$72,396$34.81
14New Hampshire$75,564$36.33
15Pennsylvania$71,110$34.19
16Iowa$62,545$30.07
17Michigan$69,355$33.34
18Maine$69,706$33.51
19Minnesota$70,043$33.67
20North Dakota$63,194$30.38
21Maryland$69,930$33.62
22Illinois$71,280$34.27
23Wyoming$57,058$27.43
24Connecticut$73,989$35.57
25Virginia$66,672$32.05
26North Carolina$57,721$27.75
27Oklahoma$56,071$26.96
28Texas$60,111$28.90
29Mississippi$60,895$29.28
30Utah$56,321$27.08
31South Dakota$53,961$25.94
32Arizona$56,460$27.14
33Colorado$63,151$30.36
34Kansas$55,059$26.47
35New Mexico$54,892$26.39
36Ohio$55,805$26.83
37Arkansas$52,512$25.25
38Hawaii$42,120$20.25
39Georgia$52,893$25.43
40Nebraska$49,093$23.60
41Montana$45,562$21.90
42Tennessee$49,310$23.71
43West Virginia$51,190$24.61
44Missouri$53,871$25.90
45Indiana$52,796$25.38
46Florida$36,881$17.73
47Louisiana$49,845$23.96
48Wisconsin$52,273$25.13
49Alabama$47,073$22.63
50Kentucky$49,456$23.78
51South Carolina$35,721$17.17

Highest paying cities for compensation specialists

The highest-paying cities for compensation specialists are San Francisco, CA, Olympia, WA, and White Plains, NY.

RankCityAvg. SalaryHourly Rate
1San Francisco, CA$99,756$47.96
2Olympia, WA$97,275$46.77
3White Plains, NY$81,460$39.16
4Boston, MA$80,473$38.69
5Washington, DC$75,772$36.43
6Chicago, IL$71,919$34.58
7Philadelphia, PA$71,677$34.46
8Baltimore, MD$70,409$33.85
9McLean, VA$70,071$33.69
10Englewood, CO$63,187$30.38
11Iowa City, IA$63,069$30.32
12Raleigh, NC$58,720$28.23
13Houston, TX$58,544$28.15
14Toledo, OH$57,104$27.45
15Phoenix, AZ$56,719$27.27
16Saint Louis, MO$54,197$26.06
17Atlanta, GA$53,095$25.53
18Springdale, AR$52,814$25.39
19Indianapolis, IN$52,233$25.11
20Omaha, NE$48,949$23.53

Compensation Specialist salary details

A compensation specialist's salary ranges from $41,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $110,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average Compensation Specialist Salary Graph
Average Compensation Specialist Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a compensation specialist's salary?

PercentileAnnual SalaryMonthly SalaryHourly Rate
90th Percentile$110,000$9,167$53
75th Percentile$87,000$7,250$42
Average$67,722$5,644$33
25th Percentile$52,000$4,333$25
10th Percentile$41,000$3,417$20

Highest paying compensation specialist jobs

The highest paying types of compensation specialists are senior compensation analyst, benefits advisor, and compensation analyst.

Job TitleAnnual SalaryMonthly SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
Payroll And Benefits Coordinator$45,858$3,821$22.0529,242
Benefits Representative$38,694$3,225$18.6013,058
Benefits Advisor$71,377$5,948$34.3248,023
Benefits & Payroll Administrator$50,662$4,222$24.3661,356
Benefits Analyst$50,944$4,245$24.4920,211
Employee Benefits Supervisor$50,372$4,198$24.2211,390

How would you rate the starting salaries for Compensation Specialists, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Dr. Kate Seltzer Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Rowan University

Educators are not paid nearly enough. However, working in a state with strong teachers' unions helps to ensure a starting salary that recent graduates can live off of and growth opportunities, albeit modest, over their careers.

Top companies hiring compensation specialists now:

  1. Microsoft Jobs (7)
  2. AIG Jobs (12)
  3. Xylem Jobs (13)
  4. Abbott Jobs (8)
  5. Citi Jobs (6)

Which companies pay compensation specialists the most?

Compensation specialist salaries at Microsoft and BP America Inc are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average compensation specialist salary at companies like Google and Federal Reserve Bank are highly competitive.

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly Rate
1Microsoft$110,292$53.02
2BP America Inc$109,999$52.88
3Google$104,334$50.16
4Federal Reserve Bank$94,307$45.34
5AbbVie$93,306$44.86
6Credit Suisse$89,747$43.15
7Parsons$84,673$40.71
8Amazon$83,630$40.21
9Allergan plc$82,955$39.88
10Incyte$82,427$39.63
11BMO Capital Markets$82,289$39.56
12Intergraph$81,770$39.31
13SHI International$81,409$39.14
14City of Jacksonville$80,933$38.91
15DISCO$80,281$38.60
16Harsco$79,978$38.45
17Booz Allen Hamilton$78,841$37.90
18Xylem$78,668$37.82
19Fastly$77,984$37.49
20New York Power Authority$75,756$36.42

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$70,000$68,400$66,800$65,200$63,600$62,000
MaleFemale

Compensation Specialist salary trends

The average compensation specialist salary has risen by $9,303 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average compensation specialist earned $58,419 annually, but today, they earn $67,722 a year. That works out to a 8% change in pay for compensation specialists over the last decade.

Compare compensation specialist salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average compensation specialist salary over time

Compare compensation specialist salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

    Compensation Specialist salary by year

    YearAvg. SalaryHourly Rate% Change
    2025$67,700$32.56+3.9%
    2024$65,100$31.28+2.4%
    2023$63,500$30.53+0.5%
    2022$63,200$30.37+1.0%
    2021$62,600$30.08+2.0%

    Recently added compensation specialist salaries

    CompanyJobLocationDate AddedSalary
    SunrunSR. Workers' Compensation SpecialistProvidence, RI12/18/2024$82,324
    SunrunSR. Workers' Compensation SpecialistSan Juan, PR12/18/2024$82,324
    SunrunSR. Workers' Compensation SpecialistNashville, TN12/18/2024$82,324
    University of Wisconsin MilwaukeeStrategic Classification and Compensation SpecialistMilwaukee, WI12/18/2024$65,000
    Compa Technologies, Inc.Compensation SpecialistDenver, CO12/16/2024$115,000
    MTCClassification and Compensation Specialist IBoston, MA12/15/2024$86,605
    SK Hynix AmericaCompensation SpecialistSan Jose, CA12/15/2024$94,000
    University of Texas at San AntonioCompensation Specialist-Human ResourcesSan Antonio, TX12/15/2024$52,000
    ContentfulCompensation SpecialistDenver, CO12/15/2024$115,000
    The Jonus GroupWorkers' Compensation SpecialistNore, MN12/14/2024$70,000

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