CEO Pay

Table 2b

 

Year Average CEO Compensation Average CEO Compensation (Rolling) Average CEO Compensation (Middle 340) Median CEO Compensation
1965 1,104
1966 1,192
1967 1,281 1,192
1968 1,370 1,281
1969 1,384 1,345
1970 1,398 1,384
1971 1,412 1,398
1972 1,426 1,412
1973 1,440 1,426
1974 1,546 1,471
1975 1,653 1,546
1976 1,759 1,653
1977 1,865 1,759
1978 1,972 1,865
1979 2,127 1,988
1980 2,282 2,127
1981 2,438 2,282
1982 2,593 2,438
1983 2,748 2,593
1984 2,904 2,748
1985 3,059 2,904
1986 3,214 3,059
1987 3,370 3,214
1988 3,525 3,370
1989 3,680 3,525
1990 4,628 3,944
1991 5,575 4,628
1992 6,523 5,575 6,439 3,403
1993 6,851 6,317 6,509 3,716
1994 5,579 6,318 5,492 3,816
1995 7,139 6,523 6,765 4,312
1996 9,325 7,348 8,832 5,123
1997 14,175 10,213 12,446 6,833
1998 20,935 14,812 29,622 6,104
1999 18,757 17,956 28,836 6,746
2000 26,003 21,898 36,139 6,806
2001 14,476 19,746 23,622 5,993
2002 12,571 17,684 17,321 6,190
2003 16,194 14,414 23,793 8,330
2004 18,269 15,678 27,661 10,071
2005 22,184 18,882 33,192 11,684
2006 22,698 21,050 31,895 12,319
2007 23,409 22,763 30,577 11,371
2008 15,300 20,469 21,404 7,761
2009 12,228 16,979 18,059 7,876
2010 15,482 14,337 23,235 10,051
2011 16,945 14,885 24,273 11,220
2012 25,150 19,192 29,416 12,568
2013 21,926 21,340 30,918 13,315
2014 22,821 23,299 33,178 14,343
2015 23,563 22,770 33,309 14,277
2016 20,684 22,356 29,739 14,064
2017 23,036 22,428 33,475 15,711
2018 22,577 22,099 30,081 14,829
2019 25,470 23,694 34,893 14,640
2020 30,013 26,020 42,260 13,224
2021 33,274 29,586 45,694 16,388
2022 28,895 30,727 37,325 16,809
2023 21,472 27,880 27,154 15,215
2024 24,586 24,984 31,873 14,794
2025 28,100 24,719 33,600 14,481
Economic Policy Institute

Notes: The rolling average measure using a three-year rolling average to smooth the data series. The middle 340 compensation measure removes the highest and lowest paid among the top 350 CEOs to make sure the results aren't based on outliers. The median measure takes the mid-point of the 350 CEOs instead of the average.

Source: Authors’ analysis of data from Compustat’s ExecuComp database.

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