Guide · 7 minutes
Medical device sales vs pharmaceutical sales: pay, entry seats and degrees side by side
Written by Yuma Heymans, Founder & CEO of SalesJobs.Now.
Yuma runs SalesJobs.Now out of San Francisco. Recruiting is familiar ground: Yuma also co-founded HeroHunt.ai, a platform that uses AI to find and reach candidates.
Pharmaceutical sales and medical device sales are the two big doors into medical sales, and the postings on this board show how differently they are built. Drug and biotech companies post a median of $170,954 a year for their US sales seats, and 85% of their postings state pay. Device makers post a median of $105,000, but fewer than half state pay at all, and device pay plans lean on commission that a posted range often leaves out. Device makers hire far more beginners (one seat in five is an entry seat, against about one in sixteen at drug companies), while drug companies ask for a degree more often. This guide compares the two side by side.
On 2 November 2026 this board had 2,409 open sales roles at medical device makers and 1,327 at drug and biotech companies; 1,289 and 918 of them were open to US candidates. A role counts by what its employer sells, not its title, so a Stryker trauma rep is a device seat and an Amgen specialty account manager a pharmaceutical one. Every pay figure is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, one per posting after repeats of the same title at the same company are merged, and the median across the US postings.
Contents
- Side by side
- Pay by kind of seat
- Who hires
- How the work differs
- Getting in: entry seats, degrees and years
- Which one to choose
- How these figures were counted
- Quick answers
1. Side by side
| Measure, US roles, 2 Nov 2026 | Medical devices | Pharmaceuticals and biotech |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles | 1,289 | 918 |
| Median posted pay | $105,000 | $170,954 |
| Middle half of postings | $90,000 to $142,250 | $125,000 to $190,000 |
| Share of postings stating pay | 46% | 85% |
| Entry seats | 20% | 6% |
| Posted as remote | 10% | 24% |
| Postings read that name a degree | 64% (of 61) | 88% (of 151) |
| Median years of experience named | 5 | 3.5 |
The medical device sales jobs and pharmaceutical sales jobs pages list every open seat with today's figures.
2. Pay by kind of seat
| Kind of seat | Devices: median | Devices: postings with pay | Pharma: median | Pharma: postings with pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account executive and field sales | $92,000 | 342 | $143,000 | 395 |
| Account management | $100,000 | 80 | $170,954 | 258 |
| Sales leadership | $155,125 | 73 | $206,870 | 96 |
Drug companies post more at every level, but the device figures understate what device reps earn. Fewer than half of device postings state pay, and device pay plans usually pay a base salary with commission on the territory's sales on top, often a large share of the total; drug company plans usually pay a salary with a bonus on goals, so the posted range is closer to the whole. Compare a device offer by asking what reps in the territory earned in total last year. The guides Medical device sales salary and Pharmaceutical sales rep salary go deeper into each.
3. Who hires
| Medical devices | Pharmaceuticals and biotech | |
|---|---|---|
| Most open roles (every country) | Stryker 458, Abbott 380, Medtronic 234, Johnson & Johnson 222, Philips 143, Smith+Nephew 134 | Amgen 196, IQVIA 178, Viatris 136, GSK 121, Novartis 110, Axsome Therapeutics 73 |
| Medians of large US employers | Johnson & Johnson $140,900, Siemens Healthineers $117,800, BD $108,050, Inspire Medical Systems $105,000, Abbott $92,000, Smith+Nephew $90,000 | Sanofi $230,562, GSK $194,000, Mirum Pharmaceuticals $190,000, Compass Pathways $180,000, Amgen $170,954, Novartis $143,000, IQVIA $126,000, Viatris $125,000 |
Stryker, the device maker with the most open seats, states pay on few of its US postings (18 priced ranges across 340 roles that day), which is one reason the device figures sit on fewer postings. IQVIA is a contract sales organization: it hires reps who sell for drug companies under contract, a common first employer in pharmaceutical sales.
4. How the work differs
- Who you sell to. Pharmaceutical reps call on the prescribers and the clinics and health systems that stock a medicine; many titles name a specialty or a therapeutic area (neuroscience therapeutic sales specialist, specialty account manager). Device reps sell to surgeons, hospital departments and purchasing teams, and the products range from implants to capital equipment.
- Where the work happens. Device reps in surgical specialties spend much of the week in operating rooms supporting cases, and trauma seats take calls at night; pharmaceutical reps work a territory of offices and clinics on a planned call schedule.
- How the territory is set. Both are field seats in a territory; drug companies post more of theirs as remote (24% against 10%), meaning based at home within the territory rather than at an office.
The orthopedic sales rep guide covers the largest device specialty, where most associate seats are.
5. Getting in: entry seats, degrees and years
| Medical devices | Pharmaceuticals and biotech | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry seats among US openings | 20% (256) | 6% (about 55) |
| Common entry titles | Associate sales representative, therapy development representative, associate territory manager, internships | Associate territory representative, pharmaceutical sales associate |
| Postings read that name a degree | 64% | 88% |
| Median years named | 5 | 3.5 |
Device makers build their pipeline through associate seats: an associate sales representative covers cases beside a senior rep for one to three years before taking a territory. Drug companies hire fewer beginners directly and ask for a degree in almost every posting, but name fewer years when they do ask for experience. The guides How to get into medical device sales and How to become a pharmaceutical sales rep cover each way in, and Sales jobs without a degree shows where a degree matters least.
6. Which one to choose
- For predictable, posted pay, pharmaceuticals: most postings state the range, and the bonus is a smaller share of the total.
- For the most upside and the most beginner seats, devices: commission on a territory can lift total pay well past the posted base, and associate programs take people without medical sales experience.
- If you like the operating room, devices; if you prefer relationships with prescribers over months, pharmaceuticals.
- Without a degree, devices are the more open door, though most device postings still name one.
7. How these figures were counted
- The roles: every open sales role on this board on 2 November 2026 at a company whose field is medical devices, or drugs and biotech, read from each company's own careers system and checked every hour.
- The pay: the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, one per posting after repeats of the same title at the same company are merged, and the median across the US postings. "Up to" figures are left out.
- Entry seats: sales development seats and seats whose title names entry level, trainee, associate (not associate director), junior, intern or graduate.
- Degrees and years: from the requirement lines read from each posting (61 US device roles and 151 drug company roles had them that day), the lowest degree a line names, required or preferred, and the most years a line names.
8. Quick answers
Do pharmaceutical reps make more than medical device reps? In posted pay, yes: US drug company sales postings state a median of $170,954 a year and device postings $105,000 (2 November 2026). But device pay plans lean on commission that postings rarely show, so total device pay is often higher than its posted figure.
Is medical device sales harder to get into than pharmaceutical sales? On this board it is the easier door for beginners: 20% of US device openings are entry seats, against 6% at drug companies.
Do you need a degree for pharmaceutical sales? Almost always: 88% of the drug company postings whose requirements were read named one, against 64% of device postings.
Which pays more, device or pharma sales leadership? Drug company sales leadership postings state a median of $206,870, device leadership $155,125.
Where can I see these jobs? The medical device sales jobs and pharmaceutical sales jobs pages list every open seat with the pay it posts.