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Updated through 2024NTEE K · Food, Agriculture & Nutrition

Food, Agriculture & Nutrition nonprofitExecutive Director salaries

Based on 1,400 organizations from 2020 – 2024. Each org counted once at its most recent filing. Sourced directly from IRS Form 990, Schedule J.

Median total compensation
$76,056
The median food, agriculture & nutrition executive director earns $76,056 in total reported compensation.
25th pct
$39k
75th pct
$136k
90th pct
$223k
1,400 organizations · 2020 – 2024
Percentile distribution

Where the middle 50% lands.

Half earn between $39k and $136k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $223k, roughly 2.9 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.

PercentileTotal compMeans
90th$222,906Top 10% of earners
75th$136,39225% earn more than this
50th · median$76,056The typical executive
25th$38,64525% earn less than this
10th$13,49410% of executives earn less than this
How pay is structured

How the package is built.

The typical pay structure across 303 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (22% of the 1,400 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%.

$215,211
typical total · 2024
Median total compensation in the subset. The dollar amounts below show what each share works out to on a package this size.
86%
Base salary
86.4% of total
$185,942
Bonus & incentive
4.2% of total
$9,039
Retirement & deferred
3.2% of total
$6,887
Benefits
4.3% of total
$9,254
Other reportable
1.5% of total
$3,228
Shares are averaged across organizations, so they sum to ~100%. Dollar amounts are illustrative (share% of typical total) and don't reflect any specific org.
How this compares

The number in context.

Every row links to its own dedicated benchmark page.

Executive DirectorThis page
$76,056
CFO
$95,026
COO
$123,484
Development Director
$151,278

All figures are median total reported compensation · IRS Form 990, Schedule J

Geography

Pay varies by state.

California pays $32,015 more than the median Executive Director compensation in food, agriculture & nutrition nationally.

Top-paying organizations

The ten highest-paid food, agriculture & nutrition Executive Directors by filing.

#OrganizationLocationTotal compensationFiling year
01Vitamin Angel Alliance IncGoleta, CA$1,261,1132024
02The National Restaurant AssociationWashington, DC$1,095,6702023
03International Fresh Produce AssociationNewark, DE$1,080,8632023
04American Society For Nutrition IncRockville, MD$887,9102023
05Women'S Foodservice ForumDallas, TX$823,0942024
06Southwestern ExpositionFort Worth, TX$796,5072023
07Second Harvest HeartlandBrooklyn Park, MN$786,2552023
08Food Allergy Research & Education IncMclean, VA$638,7742023
09Meals On Wheels AmericaArlington, VA$634,3732024
10Colorado State UniversityFort Collins, CO$610,7352024

Total includes base, bonus, other reportable, and deferred/retirement compensation per Schedule J.

Compare your organization

What does a $X org pay?

Adjust the slider to your organization's revenue. The median Executive Director compensation for food, agriculture & nutrition nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.

Your organization's revenue
~$6M
annual revenue
$0$10M$100M$1B+
Median Executive Director comp · $1M – $10M
$96,292
504 organizations in this band
Percentile range for your band
25th percentile$55,849
50th percentile$96,292
75th percentile$142,512