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Updated through 2024NTEE U · Science & Technology

Science & Technology nonprofitexecutive pay

Median top-executive pay across 1,079 science & technology nonprofits, 2020 – 2024. Each organization is counted once at its most recent filing, using the highest-paid leader reported on IRS Form 990, Schedule J.

Organizations that advance research and education in the physical, life, and engineering sciences and technology.

Median executive pay
$127,487
The typical science & technology nonprofit's highest-paid executive earns $127,487 in total reported compensation.
25th pct
$50k
75th pct
$250k
90th pct
$501k
1,079 organizations · 2020 – 2024
Percentile distribution

Where the middle 50% lands.

Half earn between $50k and $250k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $501k, roughly 3.9 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.

PercentileTotal compMeans
90th$501,326Top 10% of earners
75th$250,18725% earn more than this
50th · median$127,487The typical executive
25th$49,76825% earn less than this
10th$15,53810% 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 science & technology nonprofits in that revenue range.

Revenue band25thMedian75thOrgs
Under $1M$20k$48,750$96k482
$1M – $10M$126k$183,668$248k408
$10M – $100M$284k$418,035$573k146
$100M – $500M$623k$774,433$1.2M32
$500M – $1B$1.4M$1,715,943$1.7M5
Over $1B$1.1M$1,893,070$2.9M6
Revenue bands with fewer than 5 organizations are not shown.
Geography

Pay varies by state.

District of Columbia pays $134,829 more than the national median across science & technology nonprofits.

By role

Benchmark a specific Science & Technology role

Drill into median pay for individual leadership roles within science & technology nonprofits.

Board & trustee pay

Science & Technology board & trustee pay norms

12% of science & technology nonprofits pay at least one board member or trustee, with a typical per-person payment of $50,000 across a median board of 4 paid members.

Organizations paying board members
12%
Median board pay
$50,000
Median paid board size
4
By filing type
Form 990: 16%
Form 990-EZ: 7%
Form 990-PF: 8%
Directory

Science museums, technology education organizations, research institutes, and STEM programs. Includes computer science education, space exploration support, and engineering foundations. There are 2,395 science & technology 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 Science & Technology

2,395 organizations · Page 7 of 48

Name
City
State
Revenue
Executives
AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS' SOCIETYChampaignIL$5M6
THE PITTSBURGH CONFERENCE ON ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY AND APPLIED SPECTROSCOPYMonroevillePA$5M0
THE AQUAYA INSTITUTESan AnselmoCA$5M8
AMERICAN CENTER FOR OPTICS MANUFACTURING INCFairportNY$4.9M12
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA FOUNDATIONBoulderCO$4.8M1
SOCIETY OF PLASTICS ENGINEERS INCDanburyCT$4.8M2
BLUE MARBLE SPACESeattleWA$4.8M5
Renaissance Philanthropy FundWashingtonDC$4.8M6
THE FRAGRANCE FOUNDATION INCNew YorkNY$4.8M1
BASIS RESEARCH INSTITUTENew YorkNY$4.7M8
BUILDING CHANGE INCRichmondVA$4.7M2
THE JOHN B PIERCE LABORATORY INCNew HavenCT$4.6M12
CENTER FOR RESPONSIBLE INNOVATION LTDWashingtonDC$4.6M0
THE GLOBAL FOUNDATION FOR OCEAN EXPLORATION INCMysticCT$4.6M2
IQM RESEARCH INSTITUTEAnn ArborMI$4.6M12
BUILD CHANGEDenverCO$4.6M8
SCIENCE FRIDAY INITIATIVE INCNew YorkNY$4.6M3
ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY AT GOTHICCrested ButteCO$4.5M5
WORLD SCIENCE FOUNDATIONNew YorkNY$4.5M7
Indiana Biosciences Research Institute IncIndianapolisIN$4.5M17
ANNUAL REVIEWS INVESTMENT CORPORATIONSan MateoCA$4.5M2
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRYSanta FeNM$4.4M0
KANSAS HEALTH INSTITUTETopekaKS$4.4M13
OPEN IMAGERY NETWORK INCWashingtonDC$4.4M3
THE OWASP FOUNDATION INCWilmingtonDE$4.3M2
GEOTHERMAL RISINGPalm SpringsCA$4.3M3
INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCESNovatoCA$4.3M5
MIT Real Estate Foundation IncCambridgeMA$4.3M3
MCNC EndowmentResearch Triangle ParkNC$4.2M5
MIPI Alliance IncBridgewaterNJ$4.2M0
THE WILLIAM AND MARY GREVE FOUNDATION INCNorfolkCT$4.2M2
Great Lakes Observing System Regional AssociationAnn ArborMI$4.2M5
UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY DEMONSTRATION PARTNERSHIP INCColumbiaSC$4.2M1
TECHNOLOGY MATTERSPalo AltoCA$4.2M9
California Council on Science and TechnologySacramentoCA$4.2M5
KENTUCKY DATASEAM INITIATIVE INCLouisvilleKY$4.2M2
PYTHON SOFTWARE FOUNDATIONBeavertonOR$4.2M5
STUDENTS 2 SCIENCE INCEast HanoverNJ$4.1M4
UNIVERSITY ENTERPRISE LABORATORIES INCSt PaulMN$4.1M2
Center for Excellence in EducationMcLeanVA$4.1M5
ASPEN CENTER FOR PHYSICSAspenCO$4M1
APPLIED TECHNOLOGY COUNCILRedwood CityCA$4M6
CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC Biodiversity Funders GrpSan FranciscoCA$4M7
Kuyr InstituteHigh SpringsFL$4M0
RTCA INCWashingtonDC$4M6
THE BIOMIMICRY INSTITUTEBozemanMT$3.9M5
KOREAN-AMERICAN SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS ASSOCIATION INCViennaVA$3.9M0
MASSAUTONOMY INCMarlboroughMA$3.9M2
Sylvia Earle AllianceMission BlueNapaCA$3.9M4
EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INCNewtonMA$3.9M4