Nonprofit salary benchmark
Executive Director / CEO pay at U.S. nonprofits
Median reported total compensation, nationally. Based on 304,585 IRS Form 990 filings, 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 .
What the Executive Director / CEO role does
What the filings show
- Of the 108 executive roles CauseComp reports nationally, this one ranks 101 by median pay.
- Across the 54 states with enough filings to report this role, the median runs from $69,000 (Puerto Rico) to $213,000 (District of Columbia).
- Between fiscal years 2024 and 2025 — the two most recent complete filing years — the national median moved from $131,000 to $139,000.
These figures come from what filers reported on Schedule J and Part VII; what each Schedule J column captures explains what a reported total includes.
Pay by budget size
Budget size moves Executive Director / CEO pay more than location or mission does. Our study Geography or Mission? found that an organization's budget band explains roughly five times more of the differences in officer pay than its state does. The table below uses the same ten revenue bands.
| Annual revenue | Median | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| <$500K | $54,000 | 71,316 |
| $500K–$1M | $86,000 | 41,020 |
| $1M–$2.5M | $115,000 | 56,171 |
| $2.5M–$5M | $153,000 | 39,575 |
| $5M–$10M | $184,000 | 33,042 |
| $10M–$25M | $224,000 | 31,817 |
| $25M–$50M | $289,000 | 14,919 |
| $50M–$100M | $386,000 | 7,878 |
| $100M–$500M | $565,000 | 6,660 |
| $500M+ | $1,305,000 | 2,187 |
Median reported total compensation, IRS Form 990 filings, fiscal years 2021–2025. Figures as filed, rounded to the nearest $1,000. Every band shown has at least 20 filings. A band median is still a national figure across every sector and state. For a figure matched to your organization, use the Executive benchmark tool.
How does executive director pay change with budget size?
It rises with every budget band. In Form 990 filings for fiscal years 2021–2025, the median reported total compensation for Executive Director / CEO was $54,000 at organizations with revenue in the <$500K band (71,316 filings) and $1,305,000 in the $500M+ band (2,187 filings). The table above gives the median for every band with at least 20 filings, as filed.
Executive Director / CEO pay by state
| State | Median | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $213,000 | 8,046 |
| New York | $160,000 | 23,811 |
| Massachusetts | $154,000 | 10,229 |
| Connecticut | $150,000 | 4,120 |
| New Jersey | $145,000 | 5,628 |
| California | $139,000 | 37,656 |
| Virginia | $133,000 | 8,446 |
| Maryland | $132,000 | 6,916 |
| Rhode Island | $128,000 | 1,540 |
| Pennsylvania | $127,000 | 13,115 |
| Hawaii | $126,000 | 1,436 |
| Illinois | $126,000 | 11,054 |
| Nevada | $123,000 | 1,310 |
| Utah | $123,000 | 1,610 |
| Florida | $122,000 | 11,146 |
| Delaware | $121,000 | 1,033 |
| Nebraska | $118,000 | 2,009 |
| Michigan | $117,000 | 6,692 |
| Louisiana | $114,000 | 2,827 |
| Alaska | $113,000 | 1,358 |
| Arizona | $112,000 | 4,883 |
| Missouri | $112,000 | 5,079 |
| Minnesota | $110,000 | 7,541 |
| Ohio | $110,000 | 9,441 |
| Colorado | $109,000 | 8,332 |
| North Dakota | $109,000 | 1,094 |
| Washington | $109,000 | 9,045 |
| New Hampshire | $106,000 | 1,911 |
| Georgia | $105,000 | 6,722 |
| Texas | $105,000 | 15,739 |
| Wisconsin | $105,000 | 6,114 |
| Iowa | $104,000 | 2,906 |
| Indiana | $103,000 | 5,835 |
| Kansas | $102,000 | 2,766 |
| Oregon | $101,000 | 6,554 |
| South Dakota | $101,000 | 925 |
| Kentucky | $99,000 | 3,052 |
| Tennessee | $98,000 | 5,622 |
| Maine | $97,000 | 2,389 |
| South Carolina | $97,000 | 3,036 |
| Arkansas | $96,000 | 1,742 |
| Mississippi | $92,000 | 1,347 |
| North Carolina | $92,000 | 8,265 |
| Oklahoma | $92,000 | 2,734 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | $92,000 | 46 |
| New Mexico | $91,000 | 1,812 |
| West Virginia | $88,000 | 1,607 |
| Idaho | $87,000 | 1,291 |
| Alabama | $86,000 | 2,855 |
| Vermont | $86,000 | 1,892 |
| Montana | $84,000 | 2,410 |
| Wyoming | $80,000 | 873 |
| Guam | $74,000 | 21 |
| Puerto Rico | $69,000 | 622 |
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 how intermediate sanctions reach both the executive and the board that approves the pay.
If the real question is whether your own executive director is paid too much, read how a board tests whether its executive director is overpaid. A figure for one organization needs a peer group for the Executive Director / CEO role, matched on budget size first, then mission and geography. Our research on chief-executive turnover measures how often nonprofits with a paid executive director or CEO change chief executive from one year to the next.
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.
Which best describes you?
Recorded: .
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.
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.