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Filing year 2024

LOWELL OBSERVATORY

Flagstaff, Arizona·EIN 86-0098918·NTEE U31Z · Science & Technology·3
Total revenue
$11.9M
Total assets
$102.6M
Total expenses
$19.5M
Reported officers
13
Mission

THE MISSION OF LOWELL OBSERVATORY IS TO PURSUE THE STUDY OF ASTRONOMY, ESPECIALLY THE STUDY OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND ITS EVOLUTION; TO CONDUCT PURE RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA; AND TO MAINTAIN QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS TO BRING THE RESULTS OF ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH TO THE PUBLIC.

Executive compensation, broken down

Form 990 · Schedule J · 13 reported individuals · Filing year 2024

Executive Director
$237k
$252k
Base
$202k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$25k
Executive Director/coo
director (operational)
$216k
$230k
Base
$183k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$24k
Chief Philanthropy Officer
key employee
$204k
$217k
Base
$171k
Bonus
Other
$17k
Benefits
$11k
Astronomer
highest compensated employee
$203k
$216k
Base
$180k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$15k
Astronomer
highest compensated employee
$202k
$215k
Base
$185k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$8k
Director of Education
key employee
$201k
$214k
Base
$180k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$12k
Chief Financial Officer
$199k
$212k
Base
$177k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$13k
Director of Science
key employee
$196k
$209k
Base
$164k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$28k
Astronomer
highest compensated employee
$193k
$205k
Base
$181k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$3k
Director of Technology
key employee
$187k
$199k
Base
$157k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$22k
Astronomer
highest compensated employee
$186k
$198k
Base
$154k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$24k
Astronomer
highest compensated employee
$179k
$191k
Base
$158k
Bonus
Other
Benefits
$13k
Trustee
board member
$19k
$20k

Teal figures restate each filed amount in 2026 dollars.

Estimated with BLS CPI-U for the West region, restating filed pay into May 2026 dollars. A restatement of past pay, not current or projected pay.

Browse compensation in Science & Technology

Held steady
from 2023

From $238k in 2023 to $237k in 2024.

$238k
2023
$237k
2024
In today's dollarsEst.
Down 3% in real terms$261k to $252k

Estimated with BLS CPI-U for the West region, restating filed pay into May 2026 dollars. A restatement of past pay, not current or projected pay.

Highest reported compensation in each year. Volunteer board members and partial-year payouts are filtered out.
Financial trend

Revenue and expenses over time

LOWELL OBSERVATORY reported revenue and expenses across 2 filing years.

RevenueExpenses
$20.2M
$18.6M
2023
$11.9M
$19.5M
2024
Total revenue and total expenses from IRS Form 990 filings.
Sector benchmark

What Science & Technology executives earn

Comparable science & technology organizations nationwide pay their highest-earning executive a median of $111,215.

25th percentile
$35k
Median
$111,215
75th percentile
$231k
90th percentile
$443k

These are science & technology sector-wide figures, not this organization's reported pay. Based on 255 organizations across 255 filings (2022 – 2023).

See full Science & Technology compensation data
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