Nonprofit CEO / Executive Director Salary in the Columbus Metro
See how CEO / Executive Director pay compares across nonprofits in the Columbus metro area — by budget size. Built from IRS Form 990 filings across 186,890 nonprofits. This metro is a free preview; the full set of 30 metro-area benchmarks is part of a paid plan.
CEO / Executive Director pay in Columbus
In Columbus, a CEO / Executive Director at a $1M – $2.5M nonprofit is paid a median of $105,836. Pay tracks organization size closely: the median is $21,200 at Under $250K organizations and $405,050 at $50M+ ones. Figures are medians of what organizations reported on their IRS Form 990 filings — half of comparable leaders are paid less, half more.
| Annual budget | Median pay | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| Under $250K | $21,200 | 227 |
| $1M – $2.5M | $105,836 | 240 |
| $50M+ | $405,050 | 44 |
Source: IRS Form 990 Part VII, as filed. Kindora does not audit, verify, or certify any figure.
How Columbus compares
At $1M – $2.5M organizations, a CEO / Executive Director in Columbus is paid a median of $105,836 — 4% below the national median of $109,844 for the same budget size. That ranks 27 of 30 we publish for this role and budget size.
| Rank | Place | Median pay | Filings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | St. Louis | $108,959 | 194 |
| 26 | Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia | $108,334 | 197 |
| 27 | Columbus | $105,836 | 240 |
| 28 | Pittsburgh | $102,875 | 281 |
| 29 | Cincinnati | $100,869 | 171 |
Other roles in Columbus
Median pay for other leadership positions in Columbus, from the same IRS Form 990 filings.
Every number here summarizes what nonprofits reported on their public IRS Form 990 filings. Filings can contain errors and we don't certify any figure — for a decision that matters, check the organization's actual 990. How we build these benchmarks →
What you get
Free, interactive nonprofit pay benchmarks from public IRS filings.
Built from the public IRS Form 990 Part VII filings as the IRS publishes 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 into 14 standard nonprofit leadership roles.
- Peer cells require at least 5 filings; smaller samples are suppressed.
- Latest data: September 2026.
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