How much money do compliance officers make?

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics released a survey this month showing that compliance officers are making more money than ever.

The average salary for a chief compliance officer outside the health care sector managing at least a quarter of their company’s legal and regulatory risk was $150,207, and their total compensation was $179,753.

The average salary for a compliance director in 2013 — the last year the SCCE did a survey — was $139,582.

“What’s happening is corporate America is seeing that the position they once thought might be more of a mid-level is more of a higher level,” SCCE chief Roy Snell told the Wall Street Journal.

The SCCE is the biggest membership group for compliance officers.

It conducted the survey in June. There were 831 non-healthcare sector respondents from the U.S.

Chief compliance officers who are also certified public accountants earned $30,000 more, with an average salary of $188,700, according to the SCCE survey.

Chief compliance officers managing a staff of 30 or more made an average of $202,346.

Those responsible for a budget of $2 million or more made $223,375.

The salary for compliance officers overseeing eleven or more countries averaged $227,710.

Compliance officers overseeing two to ten countries made $156,600 on average.

Snell told the Wall Street Journal the SCCE plans to publish a separate survey for compliance officers in the health care sector.

A copy of the SCCE 2015 Compliance and Ethics Officer Salary Survey can be downloaded here.

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Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.