Nonprofit salary benchmark
COO pay at North Carolina nonprofits
Median reported total compensation. Based on 887 IRS Form 990 filings from North Carolina nonprofits, fiscal years 2021–2025. 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 .
About this role
The organization's second-ranking executive, responsible for running day-to-day operations and carrying out the CEO's plans.
Reporting and scope
Reports to the Executive Director / CEO and often serves as that person's deputy. Authority typically spans programs and internal operations across the organization, with several department heads reporting to the COO.
Core responsibilities
- Runs daily operations so the CEO can focus on the board, donors and external relationships
- Oversees program delivery, often across sites or regions
- Supervises support functions such as HR, IT, facilities or finance
- Turns the strategic plan into annual goals and tracks results
- Manages operating budgets and government contract performance
- Acts for the CEO when absent
How it differs
The Chief Administrative Officer covers internal administrative services and usually does not run mission programs. The Chief Program Officer leads programs but not support functions, and the Executive Vice President is a rank that may or may not carry operating duties.
By organization size
In small organizations the COO often carries programs, HR and finance personally. In large ones the role coordinates a team of vice presidents and is often the presumed successor to the CEO.
Behind the North Carolina figure
The 887 filings behind the North Carolina median come from 310 organizations.
The Executive benchmark tool holds a metro-area adjustment, measured from Form 990 filings for all executive roles together rather than for this role alone, for 15 metro areas in North Carolina: Asheville, NC; Burlington, NC; Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC; Durham-Chapel Hill, NC; Fayetteville, NC; Goldsboro, NC; Greensboro-High Point, NC; Greenville, NC; Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC; Jacksonville, NC; Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC; Raleigh-Cary, NC; Rocky Mount, NC; Wilmington, NC; Winston-Salem, NC.
Of the three cost-of-living tiers the Executive benchmark tool assigns to states, North Carolina is in Tier 3 (Moderate).
How North Carolina compares
- Below the national median for this role by $13,000 (7.3%) — the national figure is $177,000.
- Of the 51 states with enough filings to report this role, North Carolina ranks 25 by median pay.
- Across those states the median ranges from $128,000 (Wyoming) to $216,000 (District of Columbia).
- Between fiscal years 2024 and 2025 — the two most recent complete filing years — the median for this cell moved from $172,000 to $168,000.
Choosing between pricing against North Carolina and against a national market is a peer-group decision; in the filings, geography moves pay less than budget size or mission.
The same role in other states
| State | Median | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $216,000 | 1,705 |
| New York | $210,000 | 3,714 |
| Virginia | $203,000 | 1,293 |
| Massachusetts | $194,000 | 1,558 |
| Washington | $189,000 | 773 |
| California | $185,000 | 4,710 |
| Maryland | $185,000 | 956 |
| Wisconsin | $185,000 | 582 |
| Pennsylvania | $182,000 | 1,600 |
| Illinois | $181,000 | 1,383 |
| New Hampshire | $179,000 | 186 |
| Missouri | $178,000 | 740 |
Every state shown clears the same 20-filing minimum as this page.
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 the IRS standard for appropriate comparability data.
When a board approves this pay, what the minutes should record for COO pay matters as much as the figure itself.
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.
Which best describes you?
Recorded: .
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 COO national overview or the salary benchmark index.
Documented comparability data 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.