What is the average salary for a CEO of a nonprofit organization in the United States?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
There is no single "average" nonprofit CEO salary in the United States that all authorities agree on; estimates in 2025 span from roughly $82,000 to the high six- or even seven-figure range depending on data source and how "CEO" is defined (executive director vs. chief executive of a large foundation) [1] [2] [3] [4]. The clearest conclusion: typical nonprofit CEO pay is highly heterogeneous and driven by organization size, mission, geography, and the data and methodology the reporter or benchmarking service uses [5] [4].
1. Why sources disagree: different definitions and datasets
Salary aggregators and sector analysts measure different populations—ZipRecruiter reports a median-like “average” based on job postings and user-reported openings and finds about $82,146 for a CEO/Non‑Profit in the U.S. [1], PayScale’s 2025 snapshot centers near $121,777 using self-reported employee data [6], while Salary.com shows multiple figures that reflect different sampling and weighting choices (from ~$247,278 to an outlier $792,850 depending on the particular Salary.com page or framing) [2] [3]; specialist recruiters and nonprofit consultants place CEO pay much higher for large organizations—Avra Search Partners reports CEO-level averages approaching $800,000 for the biggest, most complex nonprofits [4].
2. The role of scale: size, budget and mission shift the "average" dramatically
Benchmarking repeatedly shows that budget size and operational complexity are the dominant drivers: small community nonprofits commonly pay in the low five-figures to low six-figures, while leaders of national health, arts, higher‑education or large social‑services organizations—especially those managing budgets of tens or hundreds of millions—may receive compensation that pushes into the mid‑to‑high six figures or beyond [4] [5]. CharityWatch and Candid both emphasize using IRS Form 990 data and large samples to locate outliers and benchmark compensation, illustrating why median and mean can diverge sharply depending on whether giant nonprofits are included [7] [5].
3. Percentiles and ranges are more useful than a single number
Several sources publish percentile ranges that convey sector spread: ZipRecruiter shows a middle 50% roughly from $54,500 to $100,000 with 90th‑percentile near $132,000 [1], Glassdoor’s limited submissions place a typical executive director range between ~$161,000 and $276,000 for the sample they hold [8], and other salary services display much higher upper‑end pay that reflects top executives in high‑cost locales or large foundations [2] [3]. These divergent percentiles make clear that reporting a single "average" without context is misleading.
4. Methodology and hidden agendas: what to watch for in headlines
Public-facing salary sites often have incentives or methodological quirks: job-posting aggregators (ZipRecruiter) skew toward advertised openings and may undercount senior roles that are filled privately [1], crowd‑sourced sites (PayScale, Glassdoor) depend on voluntary submissions that can bias results toward mid‑market employers [6] [8], and consulting firms or vendors (Salary.com, Avra, recruiter reports) may emphasize higher benchmarks to sell compensation studies or executive search services—thus inflating perceived averages if large organizations dominate their samples [2] [3] [4]. Independent auditors using IRS Form 990s (CharityWatch, Candid) provide transparency but also must decide how to treat deferred compensation, severance and outliers when computing averages [7] [5].
5. Bottom line for a concise answer
If a single short answer is required: typical nonprofit CEO pay most commonly cited by broad job and salary aggregators falls in the roughly $80,000–$180,000 band depending on whether one references ZipRecruiter, PayScale, or mid‑market Salary.com/Glassdoor estimates [1] [6] [8], but leaders of the largest nonprofits and foundations commonly earn far more—often several hundred thousand dollars to near or above $800,000 in the datasets used by some consultancy and compensation firms [4] [3]. For accurate benchmarking, use a source matched to organization size, mission, and geography [5].