Nonprofit salary benchmark
Controller / Comptroller pay at Tennessee nonprofits
Median reported total compensation. Based on 80 IRS Form 990 filings from Tennessee nonprofits, tax years 2021–2025. Figure as filed, rounded to the nearest $1,000.
How Tennessee compares
- Below the national median for this role by $28,000 (19.0%) — the national figure is $147,000.
- Across those states the median ranges from $69,000 (Puerto Rico) to $171,000 (Virginia).
- Between tax years 2021 and 2023 — the two most recent complete filing years — the median for this cell moved from $135,000 to $117,000.
The same role in other states
| State | Filings |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 21 |
| Alaska | 21 |
| Arizona | 75 |
| California | 1,171 |
| Colorado | 158 |
| Connecticut | 102 |
| District of Columbia | 216 |
| Florida | 299 |
| Georgia | 134 |
| Hawaii | 40 |
| Illinois | 262 |
| Indiana | 80 |
| Iowa | 61 |
| Kansas | 47 |
| Kentucky | 59 |
| Louisiana | 37 |
| Maryland | 179 |
| Massachusetts | 334 |
| Michigan | 100 |
| Minnesota | 120 |
| Missouri | 76 |
| Montana | 35 |
| Nevada | 26 |
| New Hampshire | 23 |
| New Jersey | 223 |
| New Mexico | 25 |
| New York | 1,209 |
| North Carolina | 140 |
| North Dakota | 22 |
| Ohio | 213 |
| Oklahoma | 55 |
| Oregon | 64 |
| Pennsylvania | 430 |
| Puerto Rico | 22 |
| South Carolina | 49 |
| Texas | 374 |
| Vermont | 20 |
| Virginia | 221 |
| Washington | 184 |
| West Virginia | 23 |
| Wisconsin | 89 |
Every state shown clears the same 20-filing minimum as this page. This cell has too few filings for us to rank it among the states by pay.
What this page does not tell you
One median is a market read. It is not a matched peer set, and it cannot on its own document a pay decision: the §4958 rebuttable presumption of reasonableness also needs comparable organizations selected on budget, sector and geography, approval by an independent body, and contemporaneous records. We publish the single figure and keep the comparability set behind the paid product — see what comparability data actually requires.
Sector and budget-band detail is not published at this depth. Narrower cuts are where a median stops being a market read and starts being the answer to a specific board's question, and that is the paid product rather than the free page.
Need the peer set, not just the number? The Executive benchmark tool matches comparable filers on budget size, sector and location and produces a board-ready report with the organizations named. See plans and pricing.
Method: the median of reported total compensation across matching IRS Form 990 Schedule J and Part VII filings, with no cell published below 20 filings. Figures are as filed and are not adjusted or projected — full methodology. Explore other roles from the Controller / Comptroller national overview or the salary benchmark index.
Documented comparability data like the above supports — but does not by itself establish — a board's rebuttable presumption of reasonableness under IRC §4958 (intermediate sanctions). The presumption 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.