Average Salary of a Federally Employed Medical Examiner
Federally employed medical examiners, or coroners, are subject to the salary table established by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The OPM classification standard for coroners is the GS-0602 series. Physicians in this series begin as grade 11 or grade 12 employees, depending on experience, and may advance to pay grades 13, 14 and 15. Pay grades, in turn, contain 10 pay steps each, allowing federal employees to receive salary increases while awaiting promotion to the next grade. Federal salaries also reflect location-specific cost of living adjustments, which increase base pay from 9.44 to 35.15 percent.
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Grade 11
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The base pay for a grade 11 coroner in 2011 was $50,287 at step 1, $65,371 at step 10 and $56,991 at step 5, according to the federal salary schedule. The lowest locality pay adjustments were 9.44 percent for nonforeign locations in U.S. territories or possessions and 11.01 percent for the state of Hawaii. With location pay included, coroners assigned to nonforeign posts, earned $55,034 at step 1, $62,371 at step 5 and $71,542 at step 10. In Hawaii, the salaries were $55,824 at step 1, $63,266 at step 5 and $72,568 at step 10. The location yielding the largest cost of living adjustment was the San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland, California, metropolitan area, where the location pay adjustment was 35.15 percent. This yielded salaries of $67,963 at step 1, $77,023 at step 5 and $88,349 at step 10.
Grade 12
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According to the federal salary schedule for 2011, grade 12 employees had a salary range between $60,274 and $78,355, with a step 5 salary of $68,310. For locations in U.S. territories, the salary ranged from $65,964 to $85,752, and it was $74,758 at step 5. The salary range in Hawaii was $66,910 to $86,982, yielding a step 5 salary of $75,831. Factoring in the locality adjustment for the greater San Francisco area led to a salary range of $81,460 to $105,897, with salaries at step 5 of $92,321.
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Grade 13
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The 2011 base pay ranged from $71,674 at step 1 to $93,175 at step 10 and the step 5 salary was $81,230, according to the federal salary schedule. In nonforeign locations, which exclude the 50 states and the District of Columbia, salaries ranged from $78,440 at step 1 to $101,971 at step 10; the salary at step 5 was $88,898. Earnings in Hawaii were between $79,565 and $103,434, with a salary of $90,173 at step 5. The highest salaries were in the San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland area, where grade 13 medical examiners earned between $96,867 and $125,926, and had step 5 salaries of $109,782.
Grade 14
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The federal salary schedule for 2011 reported that the base pay for a grade 14 coroner was $84,697 at step 1, $95,989 at step 5 and $110,104 at step 10. For medical examiners assigned to posts in U.S. territories or possessions, the salary ranged from $92,692 to $120,498 and the step 5 salary was $105,050. In Hawaii, salaries were $94,022 for step 1, $106,557 for step 5 and $122,226 for step 10. In the highest-paying location, grade 14 salaries began at $114,468; at step 5, the salary was $129,729, and at step 10, it was $148,806.
Grade 15
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Before inclusion of the locality pay adjustments, base pay for grade 15 medical examiners was between $99,628 and $129,517, according to the federal 2011 salary schedule. Base pay at grade 15 was $112,912. In U.S. territories and possessions, salaries were $109,033 at step 1, $123,571 at step 5 and $141,743 at step 10. Salaries in Hawaii ranged from $110,597 to $143,777, with a step 5 rate of $125,344. Maximum salaries were found in the greater San Francisco area, where the range was from $134,647 to $155,500. Coroners at grade 15 reached the salary cap of $155,500 at step 6.
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