Chief Executives
United States. Estimated employment 204,350, with pages for 8 metro areas below.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 11-1011
Fig. 1 — The wage rule
Where you sit in the distribution
Drag the marker, or type a figure
$213,990 · 50th
$75,70010th
$129,54025th
$213,99050th
$356,20075th
$507,73090th
That is the median — half of chief executives in the US earn more.
Table 1 — By metro area
Where it pays
Every published Chief Executives page, by median pay. Employment is the BLS estimate for the metro.
| Metro area | Median | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | $288,690 | 5,190 |
| Napa, CA | $241,590 | 150 |
| San Diego, CA | $238,440 | 2,710 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $234,290 | 10,800 |
| Salinas, CA | $226,270 | 220 |
| Santa Rosa, CA | $218,690 | 350 |
| Stockton, CA | $214,340 | 310 |
| Santa Cruz, CA | $209,080 | 220 |
Sources
How this page was made
- Wage data
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
- Employment
- 204,350 employed in this occupation nationally (BLS estimate; excludes the self-employed).
- Occupation
- SOC 11-1011, Chief Executives. Mapped to our taxonomy as chief-executives.
Percentiles are reported exactly as released and are never interpolated between published values. We take no payment from employers, recruiters or anyone else for how any figure is presented.