Candid Releases Report on US Nonprofit Executive Compensation

Credit: Candid

Candid today released its 2025 Nonprofit Compensation Report, the most comprehensive large-scale study of executive compensation in the social sector. Now in its 25th edition, the report draws exclusively from IRS Forms 990 and 990-EZ, analyzing 217,556 compensation records from 130,794 tax-exempt organizations for fiscal year 2023.

The data provides a detailed view of compensation trends across the sector, revealing consistent patterns based on organization size, location, and mission area, along with persistent gender disparities in executive pay.

Key findings from the 2025 Nonprofit Compensation Report include:

• Executive compensation varies widely by mission area. In 2023, median executive compensation was $68,958 at religion-related organizations and $109,600 at food, agriculture, and nutrition nonprofits. By comparison, science and technology research organizations reported a median of $202,490.
• Gender pay gap persists, especially at larger organizations. Female CEOs earned 75 cents for every dollar earned by male CEOs at nonprofits with annual budgets over $50 million. Women led 58% of nonprofits with budgets under $250,000, but just 31% of those with budgets over $50 million.
• Geographic location continues to influence compensation. In 2023, the District of Columbia reported the highest median executive pay at $189,088, followed by states in the Northeast. At the other end of the spectrum, Puerto Rico reported the lowest overall median at $73,600. Among U.S. states, Wyoming had the lowest median at $85,517.

"This continues to be the most comprehensive study of executive compensation in the social sector, and the largest to date," said Reina Mukai, senior data services manager at Candid. "The data helps organizations ask better questions and make more informed decisions about executive compensation grounded in what's happening across the field."

The full report breaks down compensation data by job title, budget size, state, metropolitan area, gender, and mission area.

Source: Candid

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.