Where the middle 50% lands.
Half earn between $48k and $205k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $387k, roughly 3.5 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.
| Percentile | Total comp | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 90th | $387,346 | Top 10% of earners |
| 75th | $204,778 | 25% earn more than this |
| 50th · median | $109,137 | The typical executive |
| 25th | $48,000 | 25% earn less than this |
| 10th | $16,500 | 10% of executives earn less than this |
How the package is built.
The typical pay structure across 652 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (38% of the 1,703 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 $108,864 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 | Alliant Credit Union | Chicago, IL | $6,426,149 | 2024 |
| 02 | Potlatch No1 Financial Credit Union | Lewiston, ID | $5,740,863 | 2024 |
| 03 | Institute Of Nuclear Power Operations | Atlanta, GA | $5,390,357 | 2023 |
| 04 | American National Standards Institute | New York, NY | $5,026,702 | 2024 |
| 05 | Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc | Carmel, IN | $4,757,929 | 2023 |
| 06 | Hudson Valley Credit Union | Poughkeepsie, NY | $3,853,561 | 2024 |
| 07 | New York Independent System Operator Inc | Rensselaer, NY | $3,012,196 | 2024 |
| 08 | Electric Power Research Institute Inc | Palo Alto, CA | $2,734,460 | 2023 |
| 09 | Underwriters Laboratories Inc | Evanston, IL | $2,469,462 | 2024 |
| 10 | California Independent System Operator Corporation | Folsom, CA | $2,308,710 | 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.
{sector} {role} pay, answered
- How much does a Public & Societal Benefit nonprofit Executive Director make?
- The median total compensation for a Executive Director at a public & societal benefit nonprofit is $109,137, based on 1,703 organizations in IRS Form 990 filings. The middle 50% fall between $48,000 and $204,778.
- What is the salary range for a Executive Director in Public & Societal Benefit nonprofits?
- Pay ranges from $48,000 at the 25th percentile to $204,778 at the 75th and $387,346 at the 90th. The spread reflects differences in organization size, budget, and region within the sector.
- Is this Public & Societal Benefit compensation data reliable?
- Yes. It comes from IRS Form 990 filings, legal documents filed under penalty of perjury, not self-reported surveys. Figures cover 1,703 public & societal benefit nonprofits reporting a Executive Director.
- Why does Public & Societal Benefit nonprofit Executive Director pay differ from other sectors?
- Compensation reflects the typical organization size, revenue, and operating complexity of each sector. Larger, better-funded public & societal benefit organizations pull the upper percentiles higher, while smaller ones anchor the lower end.