U.S. Nonprofit CEO Pay Growth:
2019–2024 Trends
Median U.S. nonprofit CEO compensation grew 9.5% from $189,324 in 2019 to $207,351 in 2023 — but the gains were far from equal. Healthcare CEOs saw nearly 40% growth while arts and religion sectors saw pay decline. Here is what five years of IRS Form 990 data reveals about who is gaining and who is falling behind.
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5-Year Median Growth
+9.5%
5-Year Mean Growth
+17.1%
Healthcare CEO Growth
+39.6%
$25M+ Org Growth
+32.6%
Data covers tax years 2019–2024. The 2024 sample is smaller (17,327 orgs) because many 2024 filings have not yet been processed. For the most complete year-over-year comparison, the 2019–2023 period (25,671 orgs in 2023) provides the most reliable trend data.
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Median CEO Compensation by Year
Year-over-year median CEO compensation for U.S. nonprofits filing IRS Form 990, with one record per organization (highest-paid CEO).
| Tax Year | Median CEO Pay | Mean CEO Pay | Organizations | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $189,324 | $310,447 | 21,982 | — |
| 2020 | $191,855 | $313,468 | 24,230 | +1.3% |
| 2021 | $198,952 | $332,202 | 25,627 | +3.7% |
| 2022 | $203,102 | $328,249 | 27,061 | +2.1% |
| 2023 | $207,351 | $352,549 | 25,671 | +2.1% |
| 2024 | $202,131 | $363,558 | 17,327 | -2.5% |
Source: IRS Form 990 electronically filed returns, Tax years 2019–2024. One CEO per org (highest paid). 2024 data is preliminary — many filings not yet processed.. 6 categories shown.
Get more data →CEO Pay Growth by Budget Size (2019 vs. 2024)
Mean CEO compensation growth by organization revenue tier. Larger organizations saw dramatically faster pay growth.
| Budget Tier | 2019 Mean | 2022 Mean | 2024 Mean | 5-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $126,473 | $131,868 | $124,483 | -1.6% |
| $1M–$5M | $206,308 | $218,436 | $223,325 | +8.2% |
| $5M–$10M | $284,960 | $298,412 | $346,370 | +21.5% |
| $10M–$25M | $327,155 | $357,360 | $420,890 | +28.7% |
| $25M+ | $717,039 | $725,129 | $950,429 | +32.6% |
Source: IRS Form 990 electronically filed returns, Mean compensation by budget tier. Budget tiers based on total revenue from the same filing year.. 5 categories shown.
Get more data →CEO Pay Growth by Sector (2019 vs. 2024)
Mean CEO compensation growth by nonprofit sector. Healthcare led all sectors with nearly 40% growth, while arts and religion saw declines.
| Sector | 2019 Mean | 2022 Mean | 2024 Mean | 5-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | $658,806 | $720,891 | $919,716 | +39.6% |
| Housing & Shelter | $259,327 | $292,591 | $313,019 | +20.7% |
| Community Improvement | $278,580 | $289,991 | $325,782 | +16.9% |
| Philanthropy | $259,063 | $267,949 | $286,654 | +10.6% |
| Human Services | $213,134 | $233,140 | $234,830 | +10.2% |
| Education | $242,299 | $258,492 | $241,515 | -0.3% |
| Recreation & Sports | $205,961 | $212,274 | $212,960 | +3.4% |
| International | $235,935 | $238,218 | $221,892 | -5.9% |
| Religion | $135,239 | $126,151 | $125,376 | -7.3% |
| Arts & Culture | $219,114 | $224,065 | $197,999 | -9.6% |
Source: IRS Form 990 electronically filed returns, Mean compensation by NTEE sector. Sectors with fewer than 50 CEOs in any year are excluded.. 10 categories shown.
Get more data →CEO Pay Growth by State (2019 vs. 2024)
Mean CEO compensation change in major states. New York and D.C. saw the largest absolute and percentage gains.
| State | 2019 Mean | 2024 Mean | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $589,029 | $837,142 | +42.1% |
| D.C. | $475,837 | $612,228 | +28.6% |
| Illinois | $347,957 | $429,551 | +23.4% |
| Texas | $247,428 | $273,891 | +10.7% |
| California | $245,147 | $265,656 | +8.4% |
| Pennsylvania | $291,171 | $311,138 | +6.9% |
| Massachusetts | $325,219 | $341,796 | +5.1% |
| Florida | $241,182 | $246,996 | +2.4% |
Source: IRS Form 990 electronically filed returns, Mean compensation for selected high-volume states. States with fewer than 50 CEOs in either year are excluded.. 8 categories shown.
Get more data →The Big Picture: Steady but Uneven Growth
Between 2019 and 2023, median U.S. nonprofit CEO compensation grew from $189,324 to $207,351 — a cumulative increase of 9.5% over five years, or roughly 1.8% annually. That pace lags behind the roughly 4.3% annual wage growth in the broader U.S. economy over the same period, suggesting nonprofit CEO pay is growing more slowly than private-sector wages overall.
But the median tells only part of the story. Mean CEO compensation grew 17.1% over the same period (from $310,447 to $363,558), indicating that the top of the pay distribution is pulling away. The gap between median and mean widened each year, a clear sign that the largest, highest-paying organizations are driving most of the dollar growth in executive compensation.
Why 2024 Shows a Dip
The 2024 median ($202,131) appears lower than 2023, but this is likely a data artifact — only 17,327 organizations have filed and been processed for tax year 2024 compared to 25,671 for 2023. Early filers tend to be smaller organizations, so the 2024 figure will likely rise as more large-organization filings are processed.
Bigger Budgets, Bigger Raises
CEO pay growth is strongly correlated with organization size. Over five years, CEOs at organizations with $25M+ in revenue saw mean compensation grow 32.6% (from $717,039 to $950,429), while CEOs at organizations under $1M actually saw a slight decline of 1.6%. The pattern is nearly linear: larger budget means larger percentage gains.
32.6%
5-Year Growth for $25M+ Orgs
CEOs at the largest nonprofits saw mean pay grow from $717,039 to $950,429 — a $233,390 increase over five years.
This divergence likely reflects several factors: large organizations compete with private-sector employers for executive talent, boards at larger nonprofits are more likely to commission formal compensation studies, and organizations that grew during the 2020–2023 period naturally adjusted CEO pay upward to reflect increased scope. Meanwhile, smaller nonprofits face tighter budgets and fewer benchmarking resources.
Healthcare Dominates CEO Pay Growth
Healthcare nonprofit CEOs saw the fastest compensation growth of any sector — 39.6% over five years, with mean pay rising from $658,806 to $919,716. Healthcare was already the highest-paying nonprofit sector, and it has pulled further ahead. Housing & shelter (+20.7%) and community improvement (+16.9%) also outpaced the overall average.
Winners
Healthcare (+39.6%), Housing & Shelter (+20.7%), Community Improvement (+16.9%), Philanthropy (+10.6%), and Human Services (+10.2%) all saw meaningful gains.
Losers
Arts & Culture (-9.6%), Religion (-7.3%), International (-5.9%), and Education (-0.3%) all saw CEO pay flat or declining in real terms.
The healthcare premium is partly structural — hospital systems and large health networks dominate this sector, and their CEOs oversee organizations with billions in revenue. Post-pandemic demand, labor market pressure, and the complexity of healthcare operations have all pushed compensation higher.
Geographic Hotspots: New York and D.C. Lead
New York saw the largest CEO pay increase of any major state — 42.1% growth, from $589,029 to $837,142. D.C. followed at 28.6%, driven by its concentration of large national advocacy organizations and trade associations. Illinois (+23.4%) also outpaced the national average.
States like Florida (+2.4%) and Massachusetts (+5.1%) saw relatively modest growth. California, despite being the largest state by nonprofit count, saw only 8.4% growth over five years — below the national median rate.
Cost-of-Living Context
These figures are not adjusted for inflation or local cost of living. Given cumulative inflation of approximately 22% from 2019 to 2024, most states saw CEO pay decline in real (inflation-adjusted) terms. Only New York, D.C., and Illinois saw gains that clearly exceeded inflation.
What This Means for Boards and Donors
Key Takeaways
Benchmark against your tier
CEO pay growth varies dramatically by organization size. Comparing a $2M nonprofit to sector-wide averages that include hospital systems will give a misleading picture.
Sector matters more than geography
The difference between healthcare (+39.6%) and arts (-9.6%) is far larger than the difference between any two states. Use sector-specific benchmarks for compensation decisions.
The median-mean gap is widening
The growing spread between median and mean CEO pay suggests increasing stratification. A small number of very large organizations are pulling the average up significantly.
Inflation erodes most gains
With cumulative inflation of ~22% from 2019 to 2024, the median CEO (at 9.5% growth) is actually earning less in real terms than five years ago. Only CEOs at the largest organizations have kept pace with or exceeded inflation.
How This Data Is Calculated
Transparency in methodology builds trust.
Sample Size
17,327–27,061 organizations per year
Data Source
IRS Form 990 electronically filed returns
Period
Tax years 2019–2024
CEO compensation is identified using normalized title matching for 'Chief Executive Officer' from Part VII of Form 990. Each organization is counted once per year, using the highest-paid CEO record to handle co-CEO and mid-year transition scenarios. Only records with total compensation greater than zero and no data quality flags are included. The 2024 sample is smaller (17,327 orgs) because many filings have not yet been processed — trend analysis is most reliable for the 2019–2023 period. Mean compensation figures include all CEO records (not deduped by org) for budget-tier and sector breakdowns. All monetary values are stored in cents in the database and divided by 100 for display.
Title Matching
CEOs are identified by the normalized_title field matching 'Chief Executive Officer'. This standardized field maps common variations (CEO, Chief Exec, etc.) to a canonical title. Executive Directors are tracked separately and are not included in CEO figures.
One Record Per Org
When an organization reports multiple CEO compensation records (co-CEOs, mid-year transitions), we use DISTINCT ON (organization_id) ORDER BY total_compensation DESC to select the highest-paid record. This prevents double-counting and captures the primary CEO's compensation.
Median vs. Mean
We report both median (50th percentile) and mean (average) compensation. The growing gap between these measures reveals increasing pay stratification in the sector. Median is more representative of the typical CEO experience; mean reflects total dollar flows.
2024 Data Caveat
Tax year 2024 shows only 17,327 organizations compared to 25,671+ for 2023. Early filers tend to be smaller organizations, which biases the 2024 median downward. The 2024 data should be treated as preliminary and will be updated as more filings are processed.
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