Nonprofit salary benchmark
Executive Director / CEO pay at California nonprofits
Median reported total compensation. Based on 37,656 IRS Form 990 filings from California nonprofits, fiscal years 2021–2025. Figure as filed, rounded to the nearest $1,000.
Data updated .
About this role
The top staff executive, accountable to the board for the organization's mission, strategy, finances and operations.
Reporting and scope
Reports to the board of directors, usually through the board chair. Authority covers the entire organization.
Core responsibilities
- Leads strategy and the annual plan with the board
- Hires, develops and evaluates the senior team
- Serves as chief fundraiser and public face with major donors, foundations and government funders
- Is accountable for the budget, reserves and financial health
- Ensures legal and regulatory compliance, including accurate Form 990 filing
- Supports board governance, committee work and board recruitment
How it differs
The President title may denote the same job or, in some organizations, a separate board officer or second executive. The COO runs internal operations under the CEO. Where both President and CEO titles exist, the one the board hires and evaluates is the CEO.
By organization size
In organizations under about $1M in revenue the executive director often runs programs and raises money personally with little staff. In large systems the CEO works through an executive team and spends most time on the board, major partners and strategy.
Behind the California figure
The 37,656 filings behind the California median come from 10,832 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 25 metro areas in California: Bakersfield-Delano, CA; Chico, CA; El Centro, CA; Fresno, CA; Hanford-Corcoran, CA; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA; Merced, CA; Modesto, CA; Napa, CA; Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA; Redding, CA; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA; Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA; Salinas, CA; San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA; San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA; San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA; Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA; Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA; Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA; Stockton-Lodi, CA; Vallejo, CA; Visalia, CA; Yuba City, CA.
Of the three cost-of-living tiers the Executive benchmark tool assigns to states, California is in Tier 1 (Very High).
How California compares
- Above the national median for this role by $15,000 (12.1%) — the national figure is $124,000.
- Of the 54 states with enough filings to report this role, California ranks 6 by median pay.
- Across those states the median ranges 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 median for this cell moved from $150,000 to $160,000.
Choosing between pricing against California 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 | $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 |
| 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 |
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 what comparability data actually requires.
A median is one input to the harder question; how a board in California can test whether its executive director is overpaid starts with the peer set, not this figure.
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 Executive Director / CEO 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.