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Updated through 2024NTEE D · Animal-Related

Animal-Related nonprofitexecutive pay

Median top-executive pay across 3,693 animal-related nonprofits, 2021 – 2024. Each organization is counted once at its most recent filing, using the highest-paid leader reported on IRS Form 990, Schedule J.

Organizations concerned with the protection and welfare of animals and wildlife, including shelters, sanctuaries, and veterinary services.

Median executive pay
$57,885
The typical animal-related nonprofit's highest-paid executive earns $57,885 in total reported compensation.
25th pct
$25k
75th pct
$105k
90th pct
$180k
3,693 organizations · 2021 – 2024
Percentile distribution

Where the middle 50% lands.

Half earn between $25k and $105k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $180k, roughly 3.1 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.

PercentileTotal compMeans
90th$180,411Top 10% of earners
75th$105,14025% earn more than this
50th · median$57,885The typical executive
25th$25,00025% earn less than this
10th$9,29810% of executives earn less than this
By organization size

Bigger budgets, bigger paychecks.

Median executive pay rises with organization revenue. Each band shows the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile of top-executive pay for animal-related nonprofits in that revenue range.

Revenue band25thMedian75thOrgs
Under $1M$15k$35,381$60k2,281
$1M – $10M$72k$105,004$149k1,163
$10M – $100M$200k$279,186$390k234
$100M – $500M$649k$777,005$945k14
Revenue bands with fewer than 5 organizations are not shown.
By role

Benchmark a specific Animal-Related role

Drill into median pay for individual leadership roles within animal-related nonprofits.

Board & trustee pay

Animal-Related board & trustee pay norms

6% of animal-related nonprofits pay at least one board member or trustee, with a typical per-person payment of $25,836 across a median board of 3 paid members.

Organizations paying board members
6%
Median board pay
$25,836
Median paid board size
3
By filing type
Form 990: 7%
Form 990-EZ: 4%
Form 990-PF: 10%
Directory

Animal shelters, wildlife sanctuaries, veterinary services, humane societies, and animal rights organizations. Covers companion animal welfare, wildlife rehabilitation, and animal-assisted therapy. There are 14,928 animal-related organizations in our database with compensation data from IRS Form 990 filings. Use the table below to browse them, or sort by revenue, location, or number of reported executives.

Organizations in Animal-Related

14,928 organizations · Page 2 of 299

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INCTucsonAZ$45.7M11
NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA INCPort WashingtonNY$45.1M11
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIAPhiladelphiaPA$43.7M11
CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETYColorado SpringsCO$42.8M9
The Florida Aquarium IncTampaFL$40.6M9
OREGON HUMANE SOCIETYPortlandOR$39.7M11
JACKSONVILLE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INCJacksonvilleFL$39.3M7
AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION INCWashingtonDC$38.6M17
JOHN BALL ZOOGrand RapidsMI$37.3M7
MAUI HUMANE SOCIETYPuuneneHI$37.2M6
INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INCWashingtonDC$36.5M10
THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARYKeenesburgCO$36.4M5
Defenders of WildlifeWashingtonDC$36.1M18
DOVE LEWIS EMERGENCY ANIMAL HOSPITAL INCPortlandOR$36M9
NASHVILLE ZOO INCNashvilleTN$35.9M11
Karuna FoundationNiwotCO$35.4M0
Humane World for Animals InternationalWashingtonDC$35.1M24
DALLAS ZOO MANAGEMENT INCDallasTX$34.1M10
ATLANTA FULTON COUNTY ZOO INCAtlantaGA$34.1M7
OMAHA ZOO FOUNDATIONOmahaNE$31.9M2
SEA RESEARCH FOUNDATION INCMysticCT$31.8M7
POINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORYPetalumaCA$31.7M9
CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIAOaklandCA$31.5M7
Tennessee AquariumChattanoogaTN$31.5M10
ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL OF NEW YORK CITY INCNew YorkNY$31.3M11
EAST COAST ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF FLORIDA INCMelbourneFL$30.8M6
NEW ENGLAND WILDLIFE CENTER INCSouth WeymouthMA$30.8M5
JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE FOR WILDLIFE RESEARCH EDUCATION AND CONSERVATIONWashingtonDC$30.6M12
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PITTSBURGHPittsburghPA$30.5M7
OCEAN HABITAT AND WILDLIFE RESCUE INCWest Palm BeachFL$30.2M1
FISH & WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF FLORIDA ITallahasseeFL$30M4
PENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCABurlingameCA$29.9M9
Fresnos Chaffee Zoo CorporationFresnoCA$29.6M12
COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLANDBostonMA$29.1M12
MICHIGAN HUMANE SOCIETYDetroitMI$29M10
WVCLas VegasNV$28.4M30
FLORIDA VETERINARY MEDICINE FACULTY ASSOCIATION INCGainesvilleFL$28.2M13
MARYLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INCBaltimoreMD$28.2M7
AMERICAN HUMANE ASSOCIATIONWashingtonDC$28.1M7
THE HUMANE LEAGUERockvilleMD$27.9M8
Mule Deer FoundationClearfieldUT$27.3M5
HUMANE SOCIETY OF MISSOURISt LouisMO$27.2M8
Delta Waterfowl FoundationBismarckND$27.1M15
American Bird ConservancyMarshallVA$27M9
AUSTIN PETS ALIVE INCAustinTX$25.8M8
Memphis Zoological SocietyMemphisTN$25.8M6
SAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETYSan FranciscoCA$25.5M8
LIFELINE ANIMAL PROJECT INCAtlantaGA$25.4M5
Virginia B and David R Jontes FoundationPhoenixAZ$25.2M1
AKRON ZOOLOGICAL PARKAkronOH$25.2M10