Medical device sales reps earned more money than their colleagues in associated life science industries last year, according to a survey conducted by MedReps.
The online jobs board surveyed nearly 1,500 respondents in the medical device, pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare IT and other associated industries across healthcare.
Medtech sales reps reported earning an average total salary of $154,753, 1% more than sales reps in health IT/software, 2.5% more than reps in biotech and 28% more than reps in the pharmaceutical industry, according to the survey.
The total compensation for medical device sales reps jumped 6% in 2012 compared to the previous year, with the bulk of the increase coming from a 12% jump in sales commissions. The average base salary for a medical device sales rep included an average base salary of $79,709 and an additional $75,000 in commissions.
On average, men in the medical device industry earned 15% more than women, but the "difference may in part be explained by the fact that 90% of medical device management positions are held by men," according to the MedReps report.
The average size of the medical device company did not dramatically increase the total earnings of medical device sales reps for companies with 50 or more employees. But reps at smaller medical device companies, of under 50 employees, earned 12% less than colleagues at bigger firms.
Interestingly, the amount of travel did not dramatically skew the results, with reps traveling 0-50% of the time reporting similar incomes.
When broken out by category, reps selling "medical equipment" earned a total salary of $143,077; those selling "medical disposables" earned a total salary of $130,000, according to MedReps:
