Is your nonprofit paying its leaders fairly?
Free, interactive nonprofit compensation benchmarks. See how your leadership pay compares to peer organizations by budget size, geography, and sector. Built from IRS 990 filings across 181,829 nonprofits.
Where does your pay land?
Pick a role, your geography, and your organization's budget. Enter what you pay (or what you're considering) and we'll show where it sits against peer organizations.
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How CEO / Executive Director pay scales nationally
| Sample size | 16789 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $4K |
| 25th percentile | $14K |
| Median | $34K |
| 75th percentile | $59K |
| 90th percentile | $84K |
| Sample size | 20058 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $12K |
| 25th percentile | $33K |
| Median | $61K |
| 75th percentile | $87K |
| 90th percentile | $115K |
| Sample size | 21447 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $20K |
| 25th percentile | $50K |
| Median | $81K |
| 75th percentile | $113K |
| 90th percentile | $155K |
| Sample size | 25937 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $35K |
| 25th percentile | $74K |
| Median | $108K |
| 75th percentile | $152K |
| 90th percentile | $211K |
| Sample size | 15706 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $52K |
| 25th percentile | $101K |
| Median | $143K |
| 75th percentile | $202K |
| 90th percentile | $287K |
| Sample size | 11561 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $65K |
| 25th percentile | $124K |
| Median | $178K |
| 75th percentile | $251K |
| 90th percentile | $361K |
| Sample size | 10075 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $77K |
| 25th percentile | $156K |
| Median | $225K |
| 75th percentile | $322K |
| 90th percentile | $466K |
| Sample size | 4536 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $69K |
| 25th percentile | $192K |
| Median | $292K |
| 75th percentile | $429K |
| 90th percentile | $638K |
| Sample size | 5500 |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $79K |
| 25th percentile | $264K |
| Median | $459K |
| 75th percentile | $792K |
| 90th percentile | $1.5M |
Across peer organizations nationally in this budget bracket, the median CEO / Executive Director earns $108K. Half the field falls between $74K and $152K.
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Same data. Different product.
The same numbers Candid sells for $399 — free, interactive, fresh.
Both reports draw from the same IRS Form 990 Part VII filings. The difference is how — and how fast — you can query them.
How we built these benchmarks
- Source: IRS Form 990 Part VII filings (the public disclosure of nonprofit officer pay).
- Positions classified by an AI model against Candid's standard 14 leadership roles.
- Peer cells require at least 5 filings; smaller samples are suppressed.
- Updated annually as IRS publishes new 990 batches. Latest data: May 2026.
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