Guide · 5 minutes
Medical sales rep salary: what drug, device, diagnostics and health services postings pay
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.
A US medical sales posting on this board typically states $125,000 a year, with the middle half between $94,640 and $170,954. "Medical sales" covers four different markets, and they pay differently: drug and biotech companies post a median of $170,954, diagnostics and lab companies $125,000, medical device makers $105,000 (often the base alone, with commission on top) and health services companies $85,000. This guide compares the four, by seat and employer, and points to the guide for each.
On 1 November 2026 this board had 4,760 open sales roles at medical device, drug and biotech, diagnostics and lab, and health services companies, 2,912 of them open to US candidates, and 1,929 of those (66%) stated their pay. Every figure is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale (base or on-target earnings, as the posting states it), and the median across the postings in each group. The medical sales jobs page lists every open seat with today's figures.
Contents
- The short answer
- The four medical sales markets
- Pay by kind of seat
- Who hires
- Base, commission and why device pay looks low
- How these figures were counted
- Quick answers
1. The short answer
| Measure, US medical sales roles, 1 Nov 2026 | Posted pay per year |
|---|---|
| Median | $125,000 |
| Middle half of postings | $94,640 to $170,954 |
| Drug and biotech (median) | $170,954 |
| Diagnostics and lab (median) | $125,000 |
| Medical devices (median) | $105,000 |
| Health services (median) | $85,000 |
2. The four medical sales markets
| Market | US open roles | Share stating pay | Median | Middle half | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug and biotech | 925 | 84% | $170,954 | $125,000 to $190,000 | Pharmaceutical sales rep salary |
| Diagnostics and lab | 341 | 82% | $125,000 | $106,400 to $161,800 | Lab and diagnostics sales jobs |
| Medical devices | 1,292 | 46% | $105,000 | $90,000 to $142,250 | Medical device sales salary |
| Health services | 354 | 78% | $85,000 | $80,000 to $95,000 | Healthcare sales jobs |
- Drug and biotech reps sell medicines to the physicians who prescribe them and the health systems that stock them; many seats are titled specialty or therapeutic account manager.
- Diagnostics and lab reps sell tests to the physicians who order them, or instruments and consumables to labs.
- Medical device reps sell implants, surgical and capital equipment, often covering cases in the operating room; the guide Orthopedic sales rep covers the largest specialty.
- Health services seats build referral relationships for care providers and sell to employers and health plans.
3. Pay by kind of seat
| Kind of seat | US roles posting pay | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Sales leadership | 210 | $197,500 |
| Account management | 440 | $170,954 |
| Revenue operations | 64 | $150,000 |
| Sales engineering | 22 | $128,888 |
| Account executive | 1,040 | $117,000 |
| Sales development | 61 | $105,000 |
| Partner and channel sales | 69 | $95,000 |
Account management posts high here because drug makers' field seats (specialty account managers) are filed as account management, and drug makers post the highest pay of the four markets.
4. Who hires
The medical companies with the most open sales roles on 1 November 2026 (every country) were Stryker (458), Abbott (380), Medtronic (234), Johnson & Johnson (222), Amgen (196), Danaher (191), Thermo Fisher Scientific (189), IQVIA (178), Philips (143) and Charlie Health (136). The guides How to get into medical device sales and How to become a pharmaceutical sales rep cover the way in to each.
5. Base, commission and why device pay looks low
Fewer than half of US device postings state pay (46%), against more than four in five drug, diagnostics and health services postings, and device postings that do state it often give the base salary alone; the commission on a territory's sales, often a large share of a device rep's earnings, is not in the figure. A device median below a drug company median does not by itself mean device reps earn less: compare a device posting's base with another's base, and ask what reps in the territory earned in total last year. The guide What is OTE explains base, variable and quota.
Choosing between the four. Drug and biotech seats post the highest and most predictable pay (84% of postings state it) and sell to prescribers on a schedule; device seats spend more time in hospitals and operating rooms, with more of the pay riding on commission; diagnostics seats mix the two, selling tests to physicians or instruments to labs; health services seats post the least of the four, most of them field seats that build referrals for care providers. The medical sales jobs page lets you compare the open seats side by side.
6. How these figures were counted
- The roles: every open sales role on this board on 1 November 2026 at a company whose field is medical devices, drugs and biotech, diagnostics and lab, or health services, read from each company's own careers system and checked every hour: 4,760 roles, 2,912 of them open to US candidates and 1,929 of those stating pay.
- The pay: the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, and the median across the US roles in each group.
These figures describe one day; the medical sales jobs page always shows the current roles and pay.
7. Quick answers
How much do medical sales reps make? On this board, US medical sales postings state a median of $125,000 a year (1 November 2026); drug and biotech postings $170,954, device postings $105,000, often before commission.
Which medical sales jobs pay the most? Drug and biotech seats ($170,954 median) and medical sales leadership seats ($197,500).
Do medical device reps earn commission? Most do, on their territory's sales; device postings often state only the base salary.
Which companies hire the most medical sales reps? Stryker, Abbott, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and Amgen had the most open roles on 1 November 2026.
Where can I see medical sales jobs? The medical sales jobs page lists every open seat with the pay it posts.