How much do coos make in 2026?
Chief operating officers are counted in the BLS chief executives series: OEWS May 2025 puts SOC 11-1011 at a national median of $213,990 a year ($102.88 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $75,700 and the top 10% at $507,730. Two disclosures are essential before that figure is used for anything. First, the series pools chief executives of every kind of organisation and every size — 204,350 of them, from owner-operators of small businesses to executives of large corporations — so it is an executive-level marker rather than a COO-specific measurement, and the low P10 reflects small-business principals rather than any real chief operating officer role. Second, OEWS measures wages, and compensation at this level is deliberately constructed beyond salary: base plus annual incentive, long-term incentive, equity or options, and deferred arrangements. The published P75 and P90 therefore systematically understate real packages at the top of the market, where the cash line is frequently the smaller half of the offer. Within the range, organisational scale explains almost everything: a COO of a fifty-person business and a COO of a multi-billion-dollar corporation share a title and nothing else. Employment is projected to grow 4.3% through 2034 with roughly 22,200 openings a year. → Full coo career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $213,990 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- COOs earn a national median $213,990/yr ($102.88/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 11-1011); the P10 to P90 range is $75,700 to $507,730.
- The BLS chief executives series pools every organisation size, so the low P10 reflects small-business principals rather than any real chief operating officer role.
- OEWS measures wages only, and executive compensation is built from base plus annual incentive, long-term incentive, equity and deferred arrangements — the published percentiles are the cash line, not the package.
- Organisational scale explains almost everything inside the band: a COO of a fifty-person business and one of a multi-billion-dollar corporation share a title and nothing else.
US COO Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do coos 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 11-1011; 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 11-1011, 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 coo earn at each career stage?
Executive operations pay follows the scale of the organisation you run rather than the title on the door. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 11-1011.
By State
Which states pay coos the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national chief executive median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. At executive level the state wage index is a weak predictor: organisational size, ownership structure and industry set compensation, and the largest packages cluster where corporate headquarters are rather than where wages generally are high.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($246,090), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay coos the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national chief executive median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations, and they cannot show the equity and incentive components that dominate executive packages.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a coo’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 coo pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. COOs 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 coo wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a coo 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
COO Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
COO career research journey
Do your homework, then let the network do the rest.Get the job, then keep rising
FreeSet your intent, matching jobs come to you. No applying.
A roadmap to your next licence tier and higher pay band.
Once placed, we cover all certification, licence & career-guide fees.
Hiring coos?
Get a verified shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates in 48 hours
GlobalCybers verifies active state licenses, trade certifications, Intent and right-to-work status before any candidate reaches your portal. Flat $2,999/mo RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), up to 3 concurrent roles, or a free trial (pay on hire). 90-day written guarantee.
Related · COO
Everything for coos in one place
Salary data, licensing, interview prep, and hiring, all cross-linked so you (and search engines) can move through the full coo cluster.