California / Executive Director
Role across California
Executive Director
Lead staff and operations — set priorities, allocate resources, and oversee program delivery.
5 people hold the Executive Director role across 3 departments in California, with a median total compensation of $216,557. Among 16 jurisdictions where this role is reported, California ranks #2 by median pay.
- Employees
- 5
- Median pay
- $216,557
- Departments
- 3
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #2 of 16
Compared with the local labor market
Executive Director pay vs. California
Across all employers in California, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 34,700 people — is $218,600. California pays a median base salary of $213,437 for this role, 2% below that figure — about the 48th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where California sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Chief Executives across every employer in California, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows California’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 204,350 people — is $213,990. California’s median base salary is in line withthat national figure, about the 50th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the California range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at California is $216,557, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Executive Director pay in other jurisdictions
Where Executive Directors are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable Executive Director roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.
Within California
Departments with this role
Largest California departments for this role
Departments in California employing the most people in this role. Each bar links to that department’s page for the role.