Compared with the local labor market
Executive Director pay vs. Rhode Island
Across all employers in Rhode Island, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 460 people — is $235,360. Emergency Management pays a median base salary of $42,321 for this role, 82% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Emergency Management sits in the local pay range
$113,970
$181,270
$235,360
$414,180
$561,080
Emergency Management median · $42,321
The bar is the range of annual wages for Chief Executives across every employer in Rhode Island, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Emergency Management’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. Emergency Management’s median base salary is 80% below that national figure, below the 10th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
Emergency Management median · $42,321
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 Rhode Island range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Emergency Management is $43,322, 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 beyond Rhode Island
This role is reported in 16 jurisdictions. In Rhode Island, the median of $32,386 ranks #14 of 16. See Executive Director across all of Rhode Island →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Executive Directorroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.