How much do cfos make in 2026?
A chief financial officer is nominally inside the BLS financial managers series, but that series cannot describe the role and this page will not present it as though it can. SOC 11-3031 is one management row covering 841,710 people from accounting managers to chief financial officers; its national median of $166,570 a year ($80.08 an hour) is a mid-ladder figure, and even its 90th percentile of $323,270 sits below where most CFO packages land at mid-size and large employers (OEWS May 2025). The reasons are structural rather than incidental. OEWS collects wages and salaries and excludes equity, long-term incentive and deferred compensation — which at CFO level frequently exceed base salary. Its top wage interval is open-ended and top-coded, so the executive tail cannot be resolved. And CFO pay varies enormously by company size, ownership and stage in ways a national wage row cannot capture: a private company CFO, a venture-backed one and a public company CFO occupy different markets. The usable anchors here are the 75th percentile at $219,980 and the 90th at $323,270, read strictly as a floor. Employment across the series is projected to grow 14.8% through 2034 with roughly 74,600 openings a year. → Full cfo career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $166,570 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- CFOs earn a national median $166,570/yr ($80.08/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 11-3031); the P10 to P90 range is $94,310 to $323,270.
- The BLS series behind this page tops out at $323,270 at the 90th percentile, which should be read as a floor for chief financial officer roles rather than a typical package.
- OEWS measures wages and salaries only, excluding equity and long-term incentive that frequently exceed base salary at this level, and its top wage interval is open-ended.
- CFO markets differ fundamentally by company size, ownership and stage — private, venture-backed and public company CFO roles are not comparable on a single national wage row.
US CFO Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do cfos earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 11-3031; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 11-3031, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a cfo earn at each career stage?
Executive finance pay is set by company scale, ownership structure and board exposure. The BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 11-3031 spans an entire ladder, so the tiers below sit at its upper percentiles and still describe the lower end of the executive market.
By State
Which states pay cfos the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations, and they are indexed off a pooled median far below executive pay. They carry no information about CFO compensation; read them only as relative geography for the wider finance management population.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($191,560), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay cfos the most?
Metro figures are modeled — national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations, and they inherit the same pooled-median floor. Their only signal is that CFO seats sit where corporate headquarters sit.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a cfo’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does cfo pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. CFOs sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify cfo wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a cfo actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
CFO Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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