Occupational wage benchmark
Chief Executives Salary
What Chief Executives earn nationally — the full BLS percentile distribution, the states that pay most, and the MBA paths that target the role.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) (May 2024 estimates (published April 2025)), national estimates for SOC 11-1011; cost-of-living context from U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (RPP) (2024). Occupational wage benchmarks across all workers, not MBA-specific outcomes.
- Median annual wage
- $213,990
- National, all workers
- Typical range (10th–90th)
- $75,700 – $507,730
- 6.7× spread top to bottom
- Employed nationally
- 204,350
- BLS establishment survey
- Highest-paying state
- OR
- $341,630 median
The full national pay distribution for Chief Executives
BLS publishes the whole percentile ladder, not just an average. The spread within the occupation is usually far wider than any difference between states or employers.
| Statistic (national) | Annual wage | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $75,700 | Entry / early-career end |
| 25th percentile | $129,540 | |
| Median (50th) | $213,990 | |
| Mean (average) | $269,630 | Pulled above median by top earners |
| 75th percentile | $356,200 | |
| 90th percentile | $507,730 | Senior / top-market end |
Where Chief Executives are paid most
Highest published state medians, with each adjusted to national purchasing power using BEA RPP 2024 price parities. The adjusted column is a SalaryMBA estimate, not a published wage.
| State | Median (nominal) | Adjusted for cost of living |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | $341,630 | $330,521 |
| Washington | $339,810 | $317,541 |
| Illinois | $331,920 | $332,059 |
| North Carolina | $314,290 | $333,196 |
| Virginia | $310,740 | $307,347 |
| New Jersey | $310,440 | $285,318 |
| Connecticut | $295,120 | $284,837 |
| Hawaii | $281,640 | $256,150 |
| South Dakota | $280,900 | $317,093 |
| New York | $257,980 | $239,045 |
| Texas | $257,850 | $265,669 |
| Michigan | $255,560 | $265,608 |
Top-paying metro areas for Chief Executives
City-level pay is where most people actually job-hunt. Highest published metro medians, adjusted for local cost of living.
MBA paths that target Chief Executives
How to read the Chief Executives median
The $213,990 median means half of Chief Executives earn less and half earn more. It is measured across everyone in the occupation — every experience level, industry, and level of education. It is not a starting salary, and it is not the salary of a recent MBA graduate.
The percentile spread is the number that actually matters for planning. At 6.7× between the 10th and 90th percentile, where you land is driven far more by industry, employer, and seniority than by which state you work in. Use the MBA ROI calculator to model a specific target against tuition and debt.
What this data can and cannot tell you
This page answers “what does this role pay.” It cannot answer “what will an MBA pay me in this role,” because the BLS surveys occupations, not degrees. Any site presenting these figures as MBA salaries is overstating what the source supports — the distinction is the whole point of our methodology.
For MBA-specific figures we rely on cited school employment reports and moderated submissions, published only above our sample-size gates.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Chief Executives make?
Chief Executives earn a median of $213,990 per year nationally, according to BLS OEWS May 2024 estimates (published April 2025). Pay ranges widely within the occupation: $75,700 at the 10th percentile to $507,730 at the 90th — a 6.7× spread. This is an occupational wage benchmark measured across all workers in the role, not an MBA-graduate-specific salary.
Which states pay Chief Executives the most?
Oregon has the highest published median for Chief Executives at $341,630, though after adjusting for local cost of living that is closer to $330,521 in national purchasing-power terms. Nominal pay tends to track expensive metros, so the cost-of-living-adjusted column often reorders the ranking.
Do Chief Executives need an MBA?
These BLS figures cover everyone in the occupation regardless of degree, so they cannot isolate what an MBA adds. Chief Executives is a role MBA graduates commonly target, particularly from 3 of the concentrations we track. An MBA can influence where you land in the range through network, function, and seniority, but any precise "MBA premium" for this role would not be supported by this occupational data.
Why is the pay range for Chief Executives so wide?
Within a single occupation, the distance between the 10th and 90th percentile (6.7× here) reflects differences in industry, employer size, seniority, and metro — far more than geography between states. The percentile table above is the honest planning tool: a median is one point on a wide ladder, not a number everyone earns.
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Every figure on SalaryMBA is source-labeled. See our methodology for how we source and gate data.