Where the middle 50% lands.
Half earn between $48k and $220k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $397k, roughly 3.5 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.
| Percentile | Total comp | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 90th | $397,375 | Top 10% of earners |
| 75th | $219,644 | 25% earn more than this |
| 50th · median | $112,903 | The typical executive |
| 25th | $48,000 | 25% earn less than this |
| 10th | $14,968 | 10% of executives earn less than this |
How the package is built.
The typical pay structure across 569 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (39% of the 1,450 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 $106,450 more than the median Executive Director compensation in public & societal benefit nationally.
The ten highest-paid public & societal benefit Executive Directors by filing.
| # | Organization | Location | Total compensation | Filing year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Potlatch No1 Financial Credit Union | Lewiston, ID | $5,740,863 | 2024 |
| 02 | Institute Of Nuclear Power Operations | Atlanta, GA | $5,390,357 | 2023 |
| 03 | Midcontinent Independent System | Carmel, IN | $4,757,929 | 2023 |
| 04 | New York Independent System Operator Inc | Rensselaer, NY | $3,012,196 | 2024 |
| 05 | Electric Power Research Institute Inc | Palo Alto, CA | $2,734,460 | 2023 |
| 06 | Hudson Valley Credit Union | Poughkeepsie, NY | $2,376,329 | 2023 |
| 07 | California Independent System | Folsom, CA | $2,308,710 | 2024 |
| 08 | American National Standards Institute | New York, NY | $2,299,259 | 2023 |
| 09 | Hunting With Heroes Inc | Casper, WY | $2,133,333 | 2023 |
| 10 | Georgia System Operations | Tucker, GA | $1,998,348 | 2024 |
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 public & societal benefit nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.