Where the middle 50% lands.
Half earn between $47k and $200k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $356k, roughly 3.4 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.
| Percentile | Total comp | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 90th | $355,717 | Top 10% of earners |
| 75th | $200,394 | 25% earn more than this |
| 50th · median | $103,481 | The typical executive |
| 25th | $47,202 | 25% earn less than this |
| 10th | $18,000 | 10% of executives earn less than this |
How the package is built.
The typical pay structure across 4,100 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (35% of the 11,771 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 $86,815 more than the median Executive Director compensation in education nationally.
The ten highest-paid education Executive Directors by filing.
| # | Organization | Location | Total compensation | Filing year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland | Redwood City, CA | $6,329,748 | 2023 |
| 02 | The University Of Texastexas A&M Investment Management Company | Austin, TX | $5,340,513 | 2023 |
| 03 | Wake Forest University Health Sciences | Winstonsalem, NC | $5,244,157 | 2023 |
| 04 | University Of Miami | Coral Gables, FL | $4,284,984 | 2023 |
| 05 | High Point University | High Point, NC | $3,436,678 | 2023 |
| 06 | Api Fund For Payroll Education | San Antonio, TX | $2,633,069 | 2023 |
| 07 | Icahn School Of Medicine At Mount Sinai | New York, NY | $2,630,101 | 2023 |
| 08 | Emory University | Atlanta, GA | $2,425,941 | 2023 |
| 09 | National Geographic Society | Washington, DC | $2,078,124 | 2024 |
| 10 | Southern Methodist University | Dallas, TX | $2,042,586 | 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 Executive Director compensation for education nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.