Nonprofit salary benchmark
Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer pay at U.S. nonprofits
Median reported total compensation, nationally. Based on 376 IRS Form 990 filings, Form 990 years 2020–2025. Figure as filed, rounded to the nearest $1,000.
This median spans organizations of every budget size and sector, so it will not match a benchmark for one organization. The Executive benchmark tool adjusts for your budget, sector and location.
Data updated .
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What the Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer role does
What the filings show
How much does a Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer earn at a U.S. nonprofit?
The national median reported total compensation for Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer is $212,000, based on 376 IRS Form 990 filings for Form 990 years 2020–2025. Across the 6 states with enough filings to report this role, the median runs from $192,000 (California) to $302,000 (District of Columbia). A national median spans every budget size and sector, so it will not match a benchmark for one organization.
- Of the 129 executive roles CauseComp reports nationally, this one ranks 37 by median pay.
- Across the 6 states with enough filings to report this role, the median runs from $192,000 (California) to $302,000 (District of Columbia).
- Between fiscal years 2024 and 2025 — the two most recent complete filing years — the national median moved from $234,000 to $239,000.
Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer is not among the thirteen position families that published nonprofit pay surveys concentrate on. Our research on the roles surveys barely cover measures how much officer pay sits outside that list.
Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer pay by state
| State | Median | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $302,000 | 21 |
| Illinois | $302,000 | 21 |
| Pennsylvania | $271,000 | 24 |
| Florida | $210,000 | 23 |
| New York | $210,000 | 45 |
| California | $192,000 | 45 |
Every state listed clears the 20-filing minimum. States with fewer filings are not shown, because a median built on a handful of returns is not a benchmark.
What this page does not tell you
A national median flattens two things that move nonprofit pay: budget size and sector. It is a starting point, not an answer for a particular organization, and it is not §4958 comparability data — see when intermediate sanctions reach a chief officer's pay.
Benchmarking Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer pay starts from a market figure like this one and narrows it by budget, sector and location. A figure for one organization needs a peer group for the Chief Clinical Officer (non-physician) / Chief Nursing Officer role, matched on budget size first, then mission and geography.
Need a figure matched to your organization? The Executive benchmark tool adjusts for budget, sector and location and names the comparable filers behind the number. See plans and pricing.
Method: the median of reported total compensation across matching IRS Form 990 Schedule J and Part VII filings, no cell published below 20 filings, figures as filed with no adjustment or projection — full methodology. Browse every role from the salary benchmark index.
Data like this supports, but does not by itself establish, a board's rebuttable presumption of reasonableness under IRC §4958 (intermediate sanctions), which also requires advance approval by an independent board body and contemporaneous documentation. CauseComp provides comparability data for informational purposes and does not provide legal or tax advice.