Clinical Research Coordinator Salary & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 2,593 US job postings by 572 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for clinical research coordinators: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 2,593 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for clinical research coordinators in US job postings is $79,000 a year (677 postings from 207 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $60,000 to $128,000.
- The skills that most set clinical research coordinator postings apart are ctms, organizational skills, clinical research.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Clinical Research Coordinator job postings in the US, October 2026
- $79,000
- Median advertised pay (677 postings)
- $60,000–$128,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 2,593
- US job postings from 572 employers
- 2 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a clinical research coordinator make?
The median advertised pay is $79,000 a year, from 677 US job postings by 207 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $168,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 677 US clinical research coordinator job postings: median $79,000 a year, middle half $60,000 to $128,000.
- Median: $79,000
- 25th percentile: $60,000
- 75th percentile: $128,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 0.3% |
| $30K–$40K | 1.0% |
| $40K–$50K | 6.4% |
| $50K–$60K | 15.5% |
| $60K–$70K | 17.6% |
| $70K–$80K | 9.8% |
| $80K–$90K | 9.5% |
| $90K–$100K | 4.0% |
| $100K–$110K | 4.5% |
| $110K–$120K | 3.7% |
| $120K–$130K | 3.0% |
| $130K–$140K | 5.3% |
| $140K–$150K | 3.0% |
| $150K–$160K | 3.4% |
| $160K–$170K | 3.4% |
| $170K–$180K | 2.2% |
| $180K–$190K | 1.3% |
| $190K–$200K | 0.8% |
| $200K–$210K | 1.0% |
| $210K–$220K | 0.5% |
| $220K–$230K | 0.5% |
| $230K–$240K | 0.5% |
| $240K–$250K | 0.8% |
| $250K–$260K | 0.2% |
| $260K–$270K | 0.2% |
| $270K–$280K | 0.2% |
| $280K–$290K | 0.6% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $99,000 | $72K–$148K | 412 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $79,000 | $60K–$128K | 677 |
What is the starting salary for a clinical research coordinator?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Clinical research coordinator levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 72.7% | 2 years | $78,000 |
| Level II | 9.9% | 2 years | – |
| Senior | 8.5% | 4 years | – |
Highest-paying clinical research coordinator jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Research Coordinator (general) | $66,000 | 366 | 116 |
Skills employers ask for in clinical research coordinator job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 46% |
| Organizational skills | 37% |
| Interpersonal skills | 29% |
| Attention to detail | 26% |
| Excel | 24% |
| Microsoft Office | 18% |
| Problem-solving | 17% |
| Word | 16% |
| Work independently | 14% |
| Powerpoint | 11% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set clinical research coordinators apart
- Ctms581.5× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Clinical research235.5× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Medical terminology19.4× as often as in all postings · 11%
- Ich guidelines275.6× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Google Cloud12.1× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Hipaa5.3× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Computer skills3× as often as in all postings · 8%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a clinical research coordinator job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a clinical research coordinator do?
Employers post these jobs as Clinical Research Assistant, Clinical Research Coordinator II, Clinical Research Associate, Clinical Project Manager, Clinical Research Coordinator I and other titles. The largest specializations are Clinical Trial Manager (16%), Research Coordinator (7%), Clinical Operations Manager (3%), Clinical Data Manager (3%), Clinical Research Associate (CRA) (3%).
How much experience do you need to be a clinical research coordinator?
Among 1,069 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. 3% say 0 years and 32% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,069 US clinical research coordinator job postings: median 2 years, and 32% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 4% |
| 1 yr | 29% |
| 2 yrs | 27% |
| 3-4 yrs | 23% |
| 5-7 yrs | 13% |
| 8-9 yrs | 2% |
| 10+ yrs | 3% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for a clinical research coordinator: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Clinical Research Coordinator | 145 (25.4%) |
| Clinical Research Assistant | 50 (8.7%) |
| Clinical Research Coordinator II | 49 (8.6%) |
| Clinical Research Associate | 48 (8.4%) |
| Clinical Project Manager | 31 (5.4%) |
| Clinical Research Coordinator I | 30 (5.2%) |
| Clinical Trial Manager | 27 (4.7%) |
| Senior Clinical Trial Manager | 25 (4.4%) |
| Research Coordinator | 24 (4.2%) |
| Senior Clinical Research Associate | 23 (4.0%) |
| Clinical Research Associate II | 22 (3.9%) |
| Clinical Research Manager | 22 (3.9%) |
| Clinical Research Nurse | 18 (3.1%) |
| Research Nurse | 16 (2.8%) |
| Clinical Research Specialist | 16 (2.8%) |
| Sr. Clinical Research Associate | 15 (2.6%) |
| Clinical Research Coordinator III | 15 (2.6%) |
| Research Project Manager | 14 (2.5%) |
| Director, Clinical Operations | 13 (2.3%) |
| Senior Clinical Research Coordinator | 12 (2.1%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Clinical Research Coordinator compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Research Coordinator | $79K | 2 years | 2,593 | – |
| Medical Assistant | $23.00/hr | 1 year | 22,021 | 17 |
| Patient Services Representative | $21.50/hr | 1 year | 14,137 | 19 |
| Patient Care Technician | $22.05/hr | 1 year | 8,483 | 12 |
| Laboratory Technician | $22.84/hr | 2 years | 3,224 | 19 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Assistant | 17 | $23.00/hr |
| Patient Services Representative | 19 | $21.50/hr |
| Patient Care Technician | 12 | $22.05/hr |
| Laboratory Technician | 19 | $22.84/hr |
| Regulatory Affairs Specialist | 15 | $153K |
| Claims Adjuster | 18 | $78K |
Applying for clinical research coordinator jobs?
- Clinical research coordinator resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
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- Find clinical research coordinator jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a clinical research coordinator make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.