Chief Executives salary

SOC 11-1011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$213,990

per year, nationally

Middle half

$129,540–$356,200

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

204,350

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.3%

22,200 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$75,700$507,730

10th: $75,700
25th: $129,540
Median: $213,990
75th: $356,200
90th: $507,730

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: 5 years or more
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where chief executives earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Oregon	$341,630	103.4	910	0.35×
2	Washington	$339,810	107.0	3,170	0.68×
3	Illinois	$331,920	100.0	4,620	0.58×
4	North Carolina	$314,290	94.3	1,930	0.30×
5	Virginia	$310,740	101.1	4,870	0.90×
6	New Jersey	$310,440	108.8	2,430	0.43×
7	Connecticut	$295,120	103.6	1,660	0.74×
8	Hawaii	$281,640	110.0	470	0.57×
9	South Dakota	$280,900	88.6	510	0.84×
10	New York	$257,980	107.9	8,430	0.66×
11	Texas	$257,850	97.1	8,780	0.47×
12	Michigan	$255,560	96.2	4,950	0.86×
13	Indiana	$254,180	93.3	1,820	0.43×
14	Maryland	$248,660	105.0	3,180	0.88×
15	Rhode Island	$235,360	102.3	460	0.70×
16	Pennsylvania	$232,560	97.6	8,850	1.11×
17	California	$218,600	110.7	34,700	1.45×
18	Nebraska	$214,680	90.1	2,510	1.87×
19	Colorado	$213,370	103.1	—	—
20	Iowa	$211,190	87.8	3,050	1.49×
21	Wisconsin	$208,350	94.1	—	—
22	Georgia	$208,180	96.3	4,080	0.63×
23	Delaware	$199,990	99.8	390	0.61×
24	Tennessee	$198,830	91.9	4,700	1.09×
25	Minnesota	$195,670	98.6	6,740	1.74×
26	Montana	$182,340	94.6	670	1.00×
27	Kentucky	$179,530	90.2	2,070	0.79×
28	Idaho	$177,210	95.5	2,920	2.59×
29	Ohio	$176,440	92.8	4,470	0.61×
30	Vermont	$175,070	98.0	360	0.89×
31	Missouri	$172,320	90.8	2,550	0.66×
32	Utah	$171,880	98.9	3,140	1.38×
33	South Carolina	$168,840	93.7	1,740	0.57×
34	New Hampshire	$168,590	104.2	—	—
35	Alaska	$166,710	102.4	640	1.51×
36	Alabama	$166,420	88.8	810	0.29×
37	North Dakota	$164,560	89.0	380	0.67×
38	Oklahoma	$163,790	87.8	2,390	1.07×
39	Kansas	$158,100	90.1	1,960	1.04×
40	West Virginia	$151,950	89.5	1,700	1.84×
41	Nevada	$149,770	100.0	1,370	0.67×
42	Wyoming	$147,940	92.7	60	0.17×
43	Mississippi	$139,250	87.0	310	0.20×
44	Maine	$138,770	97.0	1,580	1.88×
45	New Mexico	$123,500	92.2	100	0.09×
46	Arkansas	$119,990	86.9	3,550	2.07×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where chief executives wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for chief executives

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Medford, OR	$615,500	101.4	40	0.30×
2	Midland, MI	$587,950	91.9	60	1.17×
3	Midland, TX	$389,330	95.8	100	0.64×
4	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$388,060	106.9	480	0.91×
5	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$381,330	97.6	140	0.32×
6	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$375,810	105.4	690	0.43×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$370,000	111.1	2,060	0.75×
8	Greensboro-High Point, NC	$354,310	92.9	160	0.32×
9	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$344,960	103.6	3,610	0.61×
10	Evansville, IN	$339,330	91.5	40	0.23×
11	Springfield, IL	$338,570	92.7	80	0.57×
12	Ann Arbor, MI	$335,900	100.9	260	0.90×
13	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$329,030	97.3	740	0.41×
14	Richmond, VA	$326,160	97.9	820	0.94×
15	Rockford, IL	$323,030	92.2	90	0.48×
16	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$320,060	103.1	2,580	0.49×
17	Charlottesville, VA	$317,900	99.1	180	1.20×
18	Urban Honolulu, HI	$315,920	111.0	340	0.58×
19	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	$312,730	88.5	50	0.23×
20	New Haven, CT	$311,110	104.6	270	0.73×
21	Champaign-Urbana, IL	$310,740	92.7	70	0.51×
22	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$304,110	100.3	2,070	0.83×
23	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$301,440	112.6	7,180	0.58×
24	Rapid City, SD	$301,420	89.2	70	0.70×
25	Wilmington, NC	$298,730	96.4	30	0.14×
26	Jackson, MI	$298,440	91.8	60	0.87×
27	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$297,350	97.9	530	0.53×
28	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$292,770	102.6	4,120	1.08×
29	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$290,870	91.7	1,230	2.31×
30	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$288,690	115.6	5,190	1.66×
31	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$288,150	98.1	950	0.56×
32	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$287,180	100.1	70	0.42×
33	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$286,050	98.2	360	0.36×
34	Kalamazoo-Portage, MI	$285,300	94.8	150	0.91×
35	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$282,170	90.6	250	1.07×
36	Odessa, TX	$281,480	93.9	50	0.45×
37	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$279,080	100.0	400	0.82×
38	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$276,970	98.9	40	0.19×
39	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$275,820	100.1	2,350	0.62×
40	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$275,270	98.6	1,920	0.44×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where chief executives wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

General and Operations Managers$105,770