How much does an MP in the Foreign Service usually make? It seems the government salaries are usually much lower than the private sector.
Arguably one of the more important things to consider when starting the application process, is the salary. The Foreign Service uses a rank ordered salary schedule, and if you are familiar with the military system, it is very similar. The 2022 salary table can be found here. A couple different folks have asked me this question now, both on this website and in my personal life, so I figured it’s a good one to answer since it is a complex answer.
Medical Providers start at Class 3, step 5 through 14 on the “Overseas Salary Schedule” (second scale from the top if you are looking at it). So you can expect to start between $100,961 to $131,731. In practice, most folks start closer to 14 than 5. Promotions of steps and classes happen routinely as well, so you won’t ever be stuck at the same pay forever, and even if you don’t get a step increase one year, you will almost certainly get a congressional cost of living raise of around 2%. If you happen to enter the FS at step 14, you will wait 3 years before getting tenure and moving up to class 2. A great explanation in how the government determines your entry salary can be found here (this is for generalists and some rules don’t apply to specialists, but it offers lots of clarity nevertheless).
You might be seeing that salary even maxed around $130k, and thinking why would anyone take that job? New grad NP’s are often starting at a higher salary, and they are demanding at least 5 years experience for this? Well not so fast, the salary scale is just the tip of the iceberg.
As you serve your country abroad, there are a host of differentials/benefits that will come into play as well. For example, lets say Tom is a new hire MP and his first assignment with his family of 4 is to Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo. Well, this, and the majority of countries in the world, are considered “Hardship Posts”, which come with a differential of 5, 10, 20, 30, or 35% of your base salary. Brazzaville in particular comes with a 30% hardship differential, calculated on the base salary schedule, so if Tom is Class 3, step 14, he just netted himself an extra $32,655, bringing his salary up to $164,386. But wait! There’s more. If you happen to live in a country where the cost of living is on average higher than in the United State’s, the government gives you a TAX FREE cost of living allowance. Some countries like Japan and Switzerland come with hefty allowances. In our example above, Brazzaville would give Tom an extra $25,150 a year, and again, that is tax free. (Quick note: A few countries even offer a Danger Pay differential, there are a lot fewer of them, but if you volunteer yourself for a place like Iraq or Pakistan, expect to make bank and have nowhere to spend it)
Another huge thing to consider while serving your country abroad, is that the government provides you with tax free housing with all utilities paid and often a work phone. They will also pay for your school age children to attend international private schools at little or no cost to you. Usually for folks abroad, the only bill they are on the hook for is the internet tab, which seems to run on par to US costs, where higher speed plans run roughly $100 a month universally. You also have to gas up your car on your own dime, but the government will ship it to you for free. So in Tom’s case, he is taking home a salary of over $190,000 a year while working in Brazzaville, part of it tax free, and his major expenses will be internet, feeding his family, and possibly gas.
Finally, none of the above considers that you are automatically enrolled into a handsome pension that you get after 20 years, have the additional option of a government matched retirement plan similar to a 401(k), and family healthcare plans that are better than anything the private sector has to offer, for a fraction of the cost. Many posts also have a benefit called R&R, where the government will pay for you and your families airfare a certain number of times during your posting to get some Rest & Recuperation. Each country will have a designated relief country, or you can also choose a city in the US or its territories. In the case of Brazzaville, Tom would get two R&R trips in a two year assignment to either Paris or back to the US. Also, once Tom is done with his assignment in Brazzaville, he will get home leave, which is basically a forced paid vacation exclusively in the US of a month or more to allow Tom and his family to get re-accustomed to American culture.
Honestly, the toughest part for many is the lost income their spouse generates when they move abroad. Sometimes all the benefits and differentials will cancel this out, but I know for me personally, this has been the most difficult choice for my family and I. The government often has job opportunities for spouses, but they will often not be in their career field, and the compensation will often be much less than their private sector jobs. Plus, it can also be a big ask to have your significant other put their career on hold or completely, just so you can advance your own.
As we can see, while it’s easy to look at some of the base numbers and think the pay is pretty crummy, especially for healthcare providers with decent experience, once you start adding in all the differentials and benefits, you begin to realize how folks in the FS can save a small fortune very quickly in several posts. You can check out most of the benefits and differentials by country here.
I hope this was helpful to you and shed a bit of light on the complexity of government salaries and benefits. Next week I’ll touch on some ideal postings.
Great blog, just found it recently!
I was an LNA RN in Pakistan, and was the sole reason I decided to go to NP school after getting back to the States. Keep it up.
P.S. when you said no where to spend your money in Pakistan, man you’d be shocked at how many vendors would come and sell rugs and furniture. It was wild!
Wow nicely done. It’s a shame they don’t allow for career appointments of RN’s but good on you for going back. Best of luck!
Awesome Post!
You are right there isn’t enough info out there on FS MP. I’m so glad to have found your blog. I have a question that I hope you might be able to provide some insight. I’m an American who is also an older student who will graduate as a PA when I am 56. I look younger and am super healthy (thank God) from being a professional athlete formerly. My question is concerning the age restriction. The state department requires 5 years experience and you need to be appointed before age 60. I know of only 1 exception to this 60 year old requirement and that is if you are a qualified veteran. Do you know if having 3-4 years experience is a deal breaker? I speak 2 languages and will have experience in primary care, emergency medicine (cross trained in general surgery). Any chance for me or should I just move to Germany? I’ld love to serve America but Germany has no age restrictions.
Unfortunately, unless you are previous military you will be just slightly too old to qualify to be hired. They don’t bend on the rules. If being abroad is your goal, Germany might be for you, or you could look to see if there are any locally employed positions available at specific embassies. In most cases they only require two years of post graduate medical experience.
Hi Nick,
Thank you for this post and this great blog! I stumbled across it recently. I am a student entering semester 3 of nursing school. My husband , 2 year old daughter, and I are internationals living in the USA but also have US citizenship. I also have UK citizenship. FS MP role sounds like it would be my dream role. Once I finish school, which setting would you recommend I get my 5 years of experience in? inpatient or outpatient? I currently work as a tech in the ICU of a university research hospital, and would not mind working here as a nurse after graduation.
Also, can one choose where they would like to be posted to once hired as a FS MP?
How long do you serve as an FS MP in a posting? Is it 2 years? Can it be extended on your request?
Look forward to your reply.
Hi Michelle, where you gain experience as a nurse won’t really matter as much as where you gain experience as a Nurse Practitioner. If you are just finishing nursing school, you still have a long road ahead of you. You need to graduate nursing school, get some experience, and then get into a Family Nurse Practitioner program. That will be at least another 2 years of education, and once you graduate that program, need another 5 years of post graduate experience before you can even apply. You’re looking at close to a decade before you would even be able to apply. The ideal best experience post graduate training would be Family practice, urgent care, of ER settings.
When you first are hired, you and the rest of the people hired with you will get a list of countries with openings needing MPs, and rank them in order of preference. Most people get one of their top 2 or 3 choices in the first assignment. The second assignment choice is largely based on equity, which I have covered in a few posts, but basically rewards people for serving in tougher posts initially. Folks in my cohort with low equity in some cases got their 8th or 9th country of preference since they were low end of the totem poll for their 2nd post.
Your first 2 assignments are set at 2 years (or if you do a Special Incentive Post for your 2nd tour, 1 year). You can’t extend these assignments. Once you complete your two entry level assignments, many mid level assignments are 3 years in length, and can be extended an additional year, so doing 4 years in one post isn’t that uncommon.
Hope this helped!
I see the job posting says salaries is between 105k-150k. I am a PA with 5 years in the ER, making above 150k. Will they match what I am at, bring me to the 150k mark, or only offer the 105k since I would be a new hire for them?
I am ex military with 6 years active duty service, don’t know if that plays a factor.
Also, what is the pay cap for a provider… salary potential?
Your pay is based on Class 3 of the Foreign Service overseas table and is calculated based on years of experience and pseudo salary matching. For MP’s the max pay this year to enter as a new hire at is I believe $137.5k. This would be your base pay before other differentials.
Your $150k salary would be used to determine your step in grade, which would again help you max out at Class 3, Step 14, which is again $137.5k. Remember though, that is just the base salary, foreign differentials and allowances will make it much higher. My base salary before joining was $200k a year before I joined, and I match that with all my differentials despite my base salary being lower.
The most an MP can max out is within the tiers of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Minister Councilor, and I believe those max salaries are pegged to the Vice Presidents salary, which is $272k? That is the same for everyone in the FS, including ambassadors.
When you join, you can expect a promotion in 4 or 5 years to class 2, which is usually a 6% pay rase, and you get annual step increases in most circumstances (3% increases). We also get the annual federal cost of living pay raises, which is a flat across the board raise for all federal employees not tied to performance. Last year was 4.6%, next year it will likely be over 5%.
In your case, you would definitely come in and be making a lot more than your current ER salary.