Where the middle 50% lands.
Half earn between $61k and $177k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $234k, roughly 1.8 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.
| Percentile | Total comp | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 90th | $234,128 | Top 10% of earners |
| 75th | $177,186 | 25% earn more than this |
| 50th · median | $131,568 | The typical executive |
| 25th | $60,771 | 25% earn less than this |
| 10th | $31,304 | 10% of executives earn less than this |
How the package is built.
The typical pay structure across 54 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (37% of the 146 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.
State-level medians for COOs in animal-related, ranked by typical pay.
The ten highest-paid animal-related COOs by filing.
| # | Organization | Location | Total compensation | Filing year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Zoological Society Of San Diego | San Diego, CA | $815,292 | 2023 |
| 02 | Humane World For Animals Inc | Washington, DC | $408,231 | 2024 |
| 03 | The San Francisco Society For The | San Francisco, CA | $373,543 | 2023 |
| 04 | National Wildlife Federation | Reston, VA | $369,537 | 2023 |
| 05 | Zoological Society Of Cincinnati | Cincinnati, OH | $364,235 | 2024 |
| 06 | Houston Zoo Inc | Houston, TX | $351,718 | 2023 |
| 07 | Animal Legal Defense Fund Inc | Sacramento, CA | $321,557 | 2023 |
| 08 | Friends Of The Zoo Inc Of Kansas City | Kansas City, MO | $300,625 | 2024 |
| 09 | The Florida Aquarium Inc | Tampa, FL | $288,079 | 2023 |
| 10 | Denver Zoological Foundation | Denver, CO | $278,874 | 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 COO compensation for animal-related nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.