Where the middle 50% lands.
Half earn between $49k and $177k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $269k, roughly 2.2 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.
| Percentile | Total comp | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 90th | $268,654 | Top 10% of earners |
| 75th | $176,878 | 25% earn more than this |
| 50th · median | $119,554 | The typical executive |
| 25th | $48,830 | 25% earn less than this |
| 10th | $11,693 | 10% of executives earn less than this |
How the package is built.
The typical pay structure across 135 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (35% of the 384 orgs in this slice). Each share is the average across orgs of the fraction of total comp that goes to this component, so the bar fills 100%.
The number in context.
Every row links to its own dedicated benchmark page.
All figures are median total reported compensation · IRS Form 990, Schedule J
Pay varies by state.
District of Columbia pays $70,911 more than the median CFO compensation in environment nationally.
The ten highest-paid environment CFOs by filing.
| # | Organization | Location | Total compensation | Filing year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Alliance To End Plastic Waste Inc | Austin, TX | $542,937 | 2023 |
| 02 | Serc Reliability Corporation | Charlotte, NC | $474,010 | 2024 |
| 03 | Ocean Exploration Trust Inc | New London, CT | $450,448 | 2023 |
| 04 | World Wildlife Fund Inc | Washington, DC | $447,591 | 2023 |
| 05 | Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated | New York, NY | $387,741 | 2023 |
| 06 | Sierra Club Foundation | Oakland, CA | $384,921 | 2024 |
| 07 | Verra | Washington, DC | $378,970 | 2023 |
| 08 | Land Trust Alliance Inc | Washington, DC | $371,642 | 2023 |
| 09 | Peninsula Open Space Trust | Palo Alto, CA | $362,842 | 2023 |
| 10 | Oceana Inc | Washington, DC | $362,438 | 2023 |
Total includes base, bonus, other reportable, and deferred/retirement compensation per Schedule J.
What does a $X org pay?
Adjust the slider to your organization's revenue. The median CFO compensation for environment nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.