Nonprofit salary benchmark
Executive Vice President pay at California nonprofits
Median reported total compensation. Based on 513 IRS Form 990 filings from California 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
A senior executive just below the chief executive, usually leading several functions or a major part of the organization.
Reporting and scope
Reports to the Executive Director / CEO or President. Authority usually spans several departments or the organization's main operating units.
Core responsibilities
- Leads a large portfolio of functions and the vice presidents within it
- Takes part in strategy, budgeting and board reporting as a member of the executive team
- Acts for the chief executive when needed
- Directs major initiatives across departments
- Represents the organization with key funders, partners and government agencies
How it differs
The COO has a defined operations mandate, while an EVP may hold any combination of functions. A Senior Vice President ranks one step lower. Where the EVP is the designated number two over all operations, compare against COO data too.
By organization size
Most small and mid-sized nonprofits have no EVP. The title appears mainly in large health systems, universities and national federations, where the EVP may oversee thousands of employees.
Behind the California figure
The 513 filings behind the California median come from 165 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
- Below the national median for this role by $3,000 (1.1%) — the national figure is $264,000.
- Of the 37 states with enough filings to report this role, California ranks 15 by median pay.
- Across those states the median ranges from $100,000 (Mississippi) to $955,000 (Connecticut).
- Between fiscal years 2024 and 2025 — the two most recent complete filing years — the median for this cell moved from $284,000 to $263,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | $955,000 | 85 |
| New Jersey | $513,000 | 123 |
| Hawaii | $492,000 | 55 |
| North Carolina | $487,000 | 154 |
| Nebraska | $322,000 | 33 |
| New York | $318,000 | 877 |
| Washington | $310,000 | 114 |
| District of Columbia | $299,000 | 526 |
| New Hampshire | $297,000 | 56 |
| Virginia | $297,000 | 344 |
| Maryland | $290,000 | 155 |
| Georgia | $288,000 | 138 |
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 Executive Vice President 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 Executive Vice President 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.