Medical Officer

Diagnose and treat patients, direct clinical care, and supervise other medical staff.

35,181 people hold the Medical Officer role across 18 departments in U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense), with a median total compensation of $280,433. Among 2 jurisdictions where this role is reported, U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) ranks #2 by median pay.

Employees: 35,181
Median pay: $280,433
Departments: 18
Cross-jurisdiction: #2 of 2

Compared with the local labor market

Medical Officer pay vs. the United States

Across all employers in the United States, the median wage for Physicians, All Other — about 342,720 people — is $265,930. U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) pays a median base salary of $280,000 for this role, 5% above that figure — about the 53rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$69,170

$102,930

$265,930

$378,770

$452,360

U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) median · $280,000

The bar is the range of annual wages for Physicians, All Other across every employer in the United States, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

Computed over the 34,723 of 35,181 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) is $280,433, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Compare jurisdictions

Medical Officer pay in other jurisdictions

Where Medical Officers are paid most

District of Columbia

$367,205 · 35

Median total compensation for comparable Medical Officerroles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.

Within U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)