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Nonprofit Executive Director Salary in Housing & Shelter

The median nonprofit Executive Director earned $104,959 in total compensation in Housing & Shelter nationally for 2024, based on IRS Form 990 filings. Pay varies widely by budget size - the breakdown below shows medians and ranges for each revenue band.

Median total compensation

$104,959
Tax year 2024 · IRS Form 990
Estimated in Q2 2026 dollars
Detailed current-dollar estimates for this sector are available to subscribers.
See what's included
Reported compensation, 10th–90th percentile
$56,299 $202,697
Cohort
Role
Executive Director
Sector
Housing & Shelter
Scope
National · all sizes
Sample
n = 1,991

By budget size · Executive Director

2024 total compensation, by total revenue

  • $100k – $500k
    P10–P90 $40,000–$117,783
    $100k – $500k: median $71,000, P10–P90 $40,000–$117,783
    n = 311
  • $500k – $1M
    P10–P90 $51,530–$140,228
    $500k – $1M: median $82,459, P10–P90 $51,530–$140,228
    n = 373
  • $1M – $5M
    P10–P90 $68,587–$182,107
    $1M – $5M: median $110,000, P10–P90 $68,587–$182,107
    n = 905
  • $5M – $10M
    P10–P90 $94,121–$234,523
    $5M – $10M: median $155,025, P10–P90 $94,121–$234,523
    n = 237
  • $10M – $25M
    P10–P90 $116,582–$297,374
    $10M – $25M: median $180,560, P10–P90 $116,582–$297,374
    n = 99
  • $25M – $50M
    P10–P90 $155,442–$353,740
    $25M – $50M: median $245,416, P10–P90 $155,442–$353,740
    n = 27
  • $50M – $100M
    P25–P75 $258,137–$317,728
    $50M – $100M: median $294,298, P25–P75 $258,137–$317,728
    n = 14*

* Small sample (10–19 organizations); range shown is the P25–P75 interquartile range.

Organizations below $100K and above $500M in revenue are included in the all-sizes figures but not shown as a separate band.

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Executive Director pay by selected sector

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Frequently asked questions

How much does a nonprofit Executive Director in Housing & Shelter make?
The median nonprofit Executive Director in Housing & Shelter earned $104,959 in total compensation for 2024, based on IRS Form 990 filings. Most earn between $56,299 (P10) and $202,697 (P90).
What is the average nonprofit Executive Director in Housing & Shelter salary?
The average nonprofit Executive Director in Housing & Shelter earned $119,295 in total compensation for 2024, above the $104,959 median. Pay at the high end of the range pulls the average upward, so the median is the better benchmark for a typical organization.
How do I find a specific organization's Executive Director salary?
A full Form 990 lists every officer, director, and key employee in Part VII by name and title alongside their reported compensation, and the return is public record - searchable by organization name or EIN. The shorter Form 990-EZ reports the same officers in less detail. Coverage is not universal, though: churches and certain religious organizations are exempt from filing, and most organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less may file the Form 990-N e-Postcard, which carries no compensation data. The figures on this page come from 1,991 not-for-profit organizations that do report it.
Where does this Executive Director salary data come from?
The underlying data comes directly from the IRS Form 990 series - the public returns nonprofits file annually.

Methodology

Figures are derived from public Form 990 returns. Total compensation is the sum of reportable compensation from the filing organization, reportable compensation from related organizations, and other compensation reported in Form 990 Part VII, Section A. Original filings are not independently verified or audited and may contain errors or omissions.

Titles are normalized from the titles reported on each filing and may not perfectly match an organization's internal job structure. The cohort keeps at most one qualifying incumbent per organization-year. Organization-years with multiple matching executives, including transition and co-leadership years, are excluded. To avoid attributing a system executive's pay to a subsidiary, a record is excluded when reported compensation from related organizations is at least as large as compensation from the filing organization.

Form 990 Part VII compensation is reported for the calendar year ending with or within an organization's tax year. Revenue reflects the filing organization's reported revenue period and may not align exactly with that calendar-year compensation. Because filing deadlines extend well past fiscal year end and IRS processing adds further time, returns for a given tax year continue to arrive into the second following calendar year; figures on this page are reported for the most recent substantially complete tax year, typically one to two years prior to the current calendar year.

Budget size is approximated by the filing organization's total revenue, the figure Form 990 reports. Revenue can exceed an organization's operating budget in a year with a capital campaign, a bequest, or unusual investment gains, so a band reflects reported revenue rather than a board-approved budget.

An observation is treated as full-time when combined reported hours across the filing and related organizations total at least 35 per week and compensation clears a federal minimum-wage plausibility floor for those hours. When both hours fields are unavailable, compensation of at least $36,000 is used as a full-time proxy.

The average, P25 and P75 require at least 10 observations, and P10 and P90 require at least 20. Revenue bands with 10 to 19 observations show P25 to P75 and are marked as small samples; bands with fewer than 10 observations are omitted. The all-sizes figure also includes qualifying organizations below $100K and above $500M in revenue, which are not shown as separate bands.

To limit the influence of extreme one-time payouts (for example a deferred-compensation distribution or a severance year), the average is computed with values capped at the cohort's 1st and 99th percentiles (winsorized mean); the median and percentile figures are unadjusted order statistics.

Disclaimer

This report is provided for informational and reference purposes only and does not constitute professional compensation consulting, legal, tax, or financial advice. The data herein is derived from publicly available IRS Form 990 filings and may contain errors, omissions, or outdated information. Compensation figures reflect historical filing periods and may not represent current market rates. This data should not be the sole basis for any compensation decision. Users are advised to consult with qualified compensation professionals and legal counsel before making compensation decisions. NonprofitExecPay makes no warranty regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the data or benchmarks contained herein. See our Terms of Service for full disclaimers.