Clinical Research Coordinator
Health Science
Run clinical trials day to day — enroll participants and protect data quality.
Why it matters here: NIH, Johns Hopkins, and biotech sponsors run trials across the DMV.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level Clinical Research CoordinatorLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$65,400
- Clinical Research Coordinator (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$85,020
- Senior / Lead Clinical Research CoordinatorOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$106,820
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$128,184
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Research site offices and clinic rooms, weekday hours
Where you work
A research site attached to a hospital, university or biotech company — a mix of office, monitoring room and study visit space.
Hours and schedule
Weekday hours, occasionally early for morning dosing visits or late during a monitoring visit.
Pace and pressure
Deadline-driven around enrollment targets, monitor visits and data queries.
Who you work with
You coordinate between the principal investigator, sponsors, monitors and study participants.
Physical demands
Mostly desk work with some patient-facing visits.
What people wear
Business casual, scrubs or lab coat for study visits.
Remote reality
Partly remote for data and regulatory work; participant visits are on site.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- Protocol is followed exactly; deviations are documented rather than smoothed over.
- Consent conversations are unhurried — participants must genuinely understand what they're joining.
- Documentation quality is the job, since an audit can revisit any visit years later.
General description of this occupation. The Occupational Outlook Handbook does not publish a separate work environment section for this job, so this describes how the role typically works in the DMV. No statistics are presented here.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Data unavailable for this category.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
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