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Workforce PayDo Nonprofit Fields Pay Less? Pay by Role in Human Services, Health, Education and the Arts
Pay for 14 roles in four nonprofit fields' industries against each role's median across all employers. Human services runs 2% to 22% below it.
Data as of: BLS OEWS May 2025 (aged to Oct 2026) · Last updated
For many roles, yes. In CauseComp's Workforce benchmark, pay for each role in the industries where human services organizations operate runs 2% to 22% below that role's national median across all employers. In health and education the gap splits by role: program managers and social workers are paid above the all-employer median, while HR and marketing managers are paid below it. Both figures count every employer, so this compares fields with the whole market, not nonprofit employers with companies.
Each figure below compares the median for a role in the industries where a nonprofit field operates with the median for the same role across all employers nationally: companies, nonprofits and government. The BLS occupational wage survey behind these figures does not separate nonprofit from for-profit employers, so it cannot give a direct nonprofit-versus-company figure for a role. The figures are percentages only. For your own pay ranges, by metro and budget size, use CauseComp Workforce.
How big is the gap for each role in human services?
In the industries where human services organizations operate, every role we measured is paid below its all-employer median. The gap runs from 2% for case managers and case aides to 22% for executive assistants.
| Role | Human services vs all-employer median |
|---|---|
| Executive assistant | −22% |
| Communications specialist | −21% |
| Development / fundraising manager | −17% |
| Social worker (child and family) | −16% |
| Registered nurse | −15% |
| Fundraiser / development specialist | −13% |
| Software developer | −12% |
| IT support specialist | −12% |
| Accountant | −10% |
| Administrative assistant | −8% |
| Program manager | −5% |
| Case manager / case aide | −2% |
National medians, BLS OEWS May 2025. Each figure compares pay for the role in human services industries, all employers, with the role's median across all employers. Negative means pay in human services industries is lower. Rounded to the nearest whole percent. HR manager and marketing manager are not shown for human services; see "What do these gaps not tell us?" below.
Does the gap depend on what kind of nonprofit we are?
Yes. The same role can sit below the all-employer median in one field and above it in another. A social worker in human services industries is paid 16% below the all-employer median; in education, 17% above it.
| Role | Human services | Health (hospitals and medical) | Education | Arts, culture and humanities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountant | −10% | −3% | −7% | −7% |
| Program manager | −5% | +13% | — | −8% |
| Social worker (child and family) | −16% | +7% | +17% | — |
| Case manager / case aide | −2% | +6% | −3% | — |
| Registered nurse | −15% | +2% | −18% | −2% |
| Development / fundraising manager | −17% | +11% | +4% | −9% |
| Fundraiser / development specialist | −13% | +4% | +7% | −13% |
| HR manager | — | −8% | −10% | −7% |
| Software developer | −12% | −7% | — | −11% |
| IT support specialist | −12% | −1% | −6% | −4% |
| Executive assistant | −22% | −3% | −10% | −11% |
| Administrative assistant | −8% | +2% | 0% | −8% |
| Communications specialist | −21% | −2% | −9% | — |
| Marketing manager | — | −16% | — | — |
Gap between the median for the role in the industries where each nonprofit field operates, all employers, and the role's national median across all employers. "—" means the figure is not published on this page.
Three patterns stand out. Human services sits below the all-employer median for every role shown. Health is close to it for office roles and above it for program, social work and fundraising roles. Business roles that nonprofits hire from the same pool as companies, such as marketing, HR, communications and software, sit below it in every field shown.
Why are some roles paid above the all-employer median?
Because a nonprofit field's pay follows the industries it operates in. Health nonprofits operate in the same industries as hospitals, physician offices and nursing care, and education nonprofits in the same industries as schools and colleges. In the BLS data, those industries pay social workers, program managers and fundraisers above the all-employer median for those roles. Human services organizations operate in social assistance industries, where pay for the same roles is lower.
So there is no single nonprofit discount to apply. Price each role in your own field.
How was this gap calculated?
Each gap compares two figures from the CauseComp Workforce benchmark for the same role, nationally, at the mid-career level, with no budget size entered:
- Field: the Workforce benchmark with Benchmark Type "Nonprofit" and the field chosen. It starts from the BLS national median for the occupation and applies the difference BLS reports between that median and pay in the industries where organizations in that field operate. Those industry figures come from BLS and cover every employer in those industries, not only nonprofits.
- All employers: the same benchmark with the Benchmark Type setting labeled "Private Sector" and no industry chosen. With no industry chosen, that setting uses the BLS national median for the occupation, which covers every employer: companies, nonprofits and government.
The gap is the field median divided by the all-employer median, minus one. Every figure comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, aged to the current month with the BLS Employment Cost Index. Aging moves both medians by the same factor, so it does not change the gap. Each figure published here clears the same confidence standard as CauseComp's public salary pages. The full method is on the methodology page.
How should we use these gaps when setting pay?
Use them to decide where to look, not as a discount to apply. If a role is one you hire from the same pool as companies, such as software, marketing or HR, a gap tells you how far your field's typical pay sits from the market for that role as a whole, and how hard the role may be to fill at that level. If a role is one you mostly hire from other nonprofits, the nonprofit figure for your field is the closer comparison.
Then price each role for your own metro, budget size and level. How to set salary ranges at a nonprofit walks through the steps, and the Workforce benchmark guide shows how to run each role in the tool, with the Nonprofit setting and the setting labeled "Private Sector" (the all-employer median, when no industry is chosen) side by side.
What do these gaps not tell us?
- They do not compare nonprofit employers with companies. The field figure counts every employer in that field's industries, and the all-employer median counts every employer in the country, nonprofits included.
- They are national. Metro pay levels differ by role; see adjusting nonprofit pay for location.
- They are medians at the mid-career level. Entry and senior pay can sit differently.
- They describe base pay. Benefits and incentive pay are not part of this comparison.
- Some cells are not shown. A dash means BLS publishes no separate figure for that role in that field's industries, or the figure for that cell is not shown because the data for it does not support a reliable figure. The Workforce tool still serves those roles in every field.
Frequently asked questions
Do nonprofits pay less than for-profit companies?
The wage data cannot answer that directly: the BLS occupational wage survey does not separate nonprofit from for-profit employers. What it shows is pay by field. In CauseComp's Workforce benchmark, pay in the industries where human services organizations operate runs 2% to 22% below each role's national median across all employers, while in health and education some roles, such as program managers and social workers, are paid above it.
Is there a standard nonprofit pay discount?
No. The gap ranges from 22% below the all-employer median to 17% above it across the 14 roles and four fields on this page. Price each role against data for your own field instead of applying a single discount.
Which roles are paid furthest below the all-employer median?
In human services industries, executive assistants (22% below), communications specialists (21% below) and development or fundraising managers (17% below) show gaps of 17% or more among the roles on this page.
Where does this data come from?
From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025, as served by the CauseComp Workforce benchmark. The method is described on the CauseComp methodology page.
How do we see the gap for our own organization?
Run the role in CauseComp Workforce twice, once with Benchmark Type "Nonprofit" and your field, and once with the setting labeled "Private Sector" and no industry chosen, which uses the all-employer median, for the same state or metro.
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Looking for a report rather than one role's figure? Read the 2026 Nonprofit Compensation Report, CauseComp's analysis of IRS Form 990 compensation filings.
Sources
Educational content from CauseComp, a service of RB Consulting Services, LLC. Provides data and documentation to support board deliberations — not legal advice.