Hospital CEO Salary in 2026: Pay by State and Bed Count
The short answer
Hospital CEOs in the United States earn a mean annual wage of $450,050, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2024. The estimated median hospital CEO salary is $376,100. The bottom 10 percent of hospital CEOs earn $174,580 or less, while chief executives of 500-bed academic hospitals earn between $760,300 and $1,160,400. Pay is driven almost entirely by two variables: the number of staffed beds and the state the hospital operates in.
Every figure on this page is either published verbatim by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or derived from published BLS values by a formula stated in the data methodology section. Nothing is estimated by hand.
Hospital CEO Salary: The Headline Numbers
$450,050
Mean annual wage, hospital chief executives
BLS OEWS, May 2024
$376,100
Estimated median hospital CEO salary
Modeled from BLS anchors
$174,580
10th percentile hospital CEO wage
BLS OEWS, May 2024
$810,400
90th percentile hospital CEO wage
Modeled from BLS anchors
3,170
Chief executives employed in US hospitals
BLS OEWS, May 2024
$262,930
Mean annual wage, CEOs across all industries
BLS OEWS, May 2024
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 3,170 chief executives employed in general medical and surgical hospitals in May 2024, earning a mean annual wage of $450,050. That is 71 percent above the $262,930 mean annual wage for chief executives across all US industries in the same survey.
Hospital chief executives out-earn the wider healthcare sector by a wide margin. Chief executives across all of healthcare and social assistance earned a median annual wage of $194,360 and a mean of $251,510 in May 2024, well below the hospital-specific figure.
One tier down from the corner office, medical and health services managers working in hospitals earned a median annual wage of $131,060 in May 2024, with the top 10 percent earning $217,700 or more. That gap between the administrator tier and the CEO seat is the single largest compensation step in hospital leadership.
Hospital CEO Salary by State
Hospital CEO pay varies by roughly 80 percent between the highest and lowest paying states. The District of Columbia is the highest paying market for hospital chief executives at an estimated $614,500 per year, followed by New York at $571,600 and Washington at $546,700. Arkansas is the lowest at an estimated $337,000, with Mississippi at $343,200 and Alabama at $354,600.
The table below is sortable by any column. The estimated hospital CEO column is modeled; the two BLS columns beside it are published figures, shown so every estimate can be traced back to its source. Sort by the BLS columns to see the raw survey data on its own.
| Alabama | $354,600 | $92,950 | $207,190 | 79 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | $465,500 | $122,020 | $211,500 | 103 |
| Arizona | $468,300 | $122,740 | $213,280 | 104 |
| Arkansas | $337,000 | $88,340 | $177,460 | 75 |
| California | $520,800 | $136,500 | $289,530 | 116 |
| Colorado | $500,300 | $131,130 | $280,170 | 111 |
| Connecticut | $480,000 | $125,820 | $393,930 | 107 |
| Delaware | $477,500 | $125,150 | $233,680 | 106 |
| District of Columbia | $614,500 | $161,050 | $344,670 | 137 |
| Florida | $405,500 | $106,280 | Not published | 90 |
| Georgia | $519,000 | $136,030 | $265,000 | 115 |
| Hawaii | $537,000 | $140,750 | $280,020 | 119 |
| Idaho | $445,700 | $116,810 | $215,780 | 99 |
| Illinois | $433,500 | $113,610 | $315,570 | 96 |
| Indiana | $385,500 | $101,030 | $290,710 | 86 |
| Iowa | $384,400 | $100,750 | $211,710 | 85 |
| Kansas | $400,600 | $104,990 | $196,580 | 89 |
| Kentucky | $382,500 | $100,260 | $208,380 | 85 |
| Louisiana | $385,600 | $101,080 | $175,570 | 86 |
| Maine | $416,900 | $109,280 | $184,010 | 93 |
| Maryland | $505,900 | $132,590 | $292,170 | 112 |
| Massachusetts | $504,100 | $132,130 | $324,340 | 112 |
| Michigan | $396,300 | $103,860 | $285,020 | 88 |
| Minnesota | $436,100 | $114,310 | $243,330 | 97 |
| Mississippi | $343,200 | $89,960 | $155,210 | 76 |
| Missouri | $391,200 | $102,540 | $197,780 | 87 |
| Montana | $399,000 | $104,590 | $233,880 | 89 |
| Nebraska | $395,300 | $103,610 | $240,320 | 88 |
| Nevada | $405,300 | $106,240 | $276,150 | 90 |
| New Hampshire | $483,200 | $126,660 | $193,280 | 107 |
| New Jersey | $504,600 | $132,250 | $465,040 | 112 |
| New Mexico | $463,900 | $121,580 | $163,510 | 103 |
| New York | $571,600 | $149,820 | $343,030 | 127 |
| North Carolina | $414,100 | $108,530 | $327,180 | 92 |
| North Dakota | $385,800 | $101,120 | $232,120 | 86 |
| Ohio | $400,800 | $105,040 | $273,990 | 89 |
| Oklahoma | $383,700 | $100,570 | $177,610 | 85 |
| Oregon | $517,100 | $135,530 | $362,310 | 115 |
| Pennsylvania | $395,700 | $103,720 | $282,200 | 88 |
| Rhode Island | $458,700 | $120,240 | $290,840 | 102 |
| South Carolina | $401,400 | $105,220 | $221,870 | 89 |
| South Dakota | $443,400 | $116,210 | $357,220 | 99 |
| Tennessee | $398,200 | $104,370 | $223,350 | 88 |
| Texas | $406,700 | $106,590 | Not published | 90 |
| Utah | $412,000 | $107,980 | $204,600 | 92 |
| Vermont | $477,600 | $125,170 | $220,500 | 106 |
| Virginia | $475,100 | $124,530 | $336,960 | 106 |
| Washington | $546,700 | $143,300 | $343,950 | 121 |
| West Virginia | $422,700 | $110,780 | $203,960 | 94 |
| Wisconsin | $481,400 | $126,170 | $284,090 | 107 |
| Wyoming | $401,500 | $105,230 | $159,580 | 89 |
The five highest paying states for hospital chief executives are District of Columbia, New York, Washington, Hawaii, California. The five lowest paying are Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma.
Geography matters less than people assume once cost of living is netted out. A 250-bed hospital in Virginia and a 250-bed hospital in Ohio will land within roughly 10 percent of each other on base salary. Bed count moves the number far more than the state line does, which is why the size table below is the more useful benchmark for most searches. We see the same pattern in the executive markets we recruit in directly, from Richmond headhunters covering the Virginia hospital corridor to our Birmingham executive search practice across the Alabama health systems.
Hospital CEO Salary by Hospital Size and Bed Count
Bed count is the strongest single predictor of hospital CEO pay. A critical access hospital CEO running fewer than 25 beds earns between $174,600 and $251,100. A chief executive running a 500-bed academic medical center earns between $760,300 and $1,160,400. That is a 4.6x spread across the same job title.
| Hospital type | Staffed beds | Salary range | Percentile band | Typical pay structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical access hospital | Under 25 beds | $174,600 - $251,100 | 10th-25th percentile | Base salary only; bonus rare or capped near 10% |
| Small community hospital | 25-99 beds | $251,100 - $348,900 | 25th-45th percentile | Base plus 10-15% incentive tied to margin and quality scores |
| Mid-size community hospital | 100-299 beds | $348,900 - $515,000 | 45th-70th percentile | Base plus 15-25% annual incentive; supplemental retirement common |
| Large regional hospital | 300-499 beds | $515,000 - $760,300 | 70th-88th percentile | Base plus 25-40% annual incentive and a long-term incentive plan |
| Major academic or flagship hospital | 500+ beds | $760,300 - $1,160,400 | 88th-97th percentile | Base plus 40%+ annual incentive, LTIP, and deferred compensation |
What the size bands do not capture
These ranges describe wages and salaries as the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures them. Total compensation reported on IRS Form 990 Schedule J for tax-exempt hospitals runs materially higher for the same executives, because Schedule J includes bonus, incentive, deferred, and retirement compensation that the BLS wage survey excludes. A hospital CEO with a BLS-basis wage of $450,000 can appear on a Form 990 at $700,000 or more in total compensation.
System CEOs sit outside the table entirely. A chief executive responsible for eight hospitals is not paid as a hospital CEO; they are paid as a health system CEO, and the relevant benchmark is the system's Form 990 rather than the BLS hospital industry file. If you are scoping that search, start with our hospital CEO search practice.
How Hospital CEO Pay Compares to Other Healthcare Leadership Roles
| Role | SOC / NAICS | Median | Mean | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital chief executive officer | 11-1011 in NAICS 622100 | $376,100 | $450,050 | Median is modeled; BLS suppresses it above the $239,200 top code |
| Chief executive, all healthcare and social assistance | 11-1011 in NAICS 62 | $194,360 | $251,510 | Published by BLS |
| Chief executive, all industries | 11-1011 | $206,420 | $262,930 | Published by BLS |
| Medical and health services manager, hospitals | 11-9111 in NAICS 622100 | $131,060 | $150,020 | Published by BLS |
| Medical and health services manager, all industries | 11-9111 | $117,960 | $137,730 | Published by BLS |
Data Methodology
Last updated:
Primary source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
All published wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 release, which is the most recent OEWS vintage available as of August 2026. Three OEWS files are used: the national cross-industry file, the national four-digit NAICS industry file, and the state cross-industry file, all published at bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.
Hospital chief executive figures are SOC 11-1011 (Chief Executives) within NAICS 622100 (General Medical and Surgical Hospitals). State-level healthcare management figures are SOC 11-9111 (Medical and Health Services Managers).
Why the BLS median is missing
OEWS top-codes wages at $239,200 per year, and publishes a suppression marker instead of a dollar figure for any percentile above it. More than half of hospital chief executives earn above the top code, so BLS publishes only two distribution points for this occupation and industry: a mean annual wage of $450,050 and a 10th percentile of $174,580.
How the median and percentiles are modeled
A two-parameter lognormal distribution is uniquely determined by a percentile and a mean. Solving mu + sigma x z(0.10) = ln(174,580) and mu + sigma squared over 2 = ln(450,050) gives sigma = 0.59896 and mu = 12.83774. Every modeled percentile on this page is exp(mu + sigma x z(p)), rounded to the nearest $100. The fit reproduces both BLS anchors exactly, and returns a median of $376,100, a 75th percentile of $563,400, and a 90th percentile of $810,400.
How the state estimates are built
BLS does not publish hospital-industry wages at the state level, so state estimates index the national hospital figure to local healthcare pay. The formula is: estimated hospital CEO salary = $450,050 x (state median wage for medical and health services managers / $117,960). Applied at the national index of 100, the formula returns $450,050 exactly. Florida and Texas have no published SOC 11-1011 estimate in the May 2024 state file, so their all-industry CEO column reads "Not published"; their hospital CEO estimate is unaffected because it is built from SOC 11-9111, which is published for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
How the bed-count bands are built
BLS does not publish wages by facility size. Bed-count tiers are cut from the modeled lognormal distribution above, on the standard assumption that executive pay rises monotonically with organizational scale. Each tier's dollar range is the modeled wage at the stated percentile band, shown in the table so the mapping is fully visible. No figure in that table is hand-set.
Secondary sources and cross-checks
Two further source classes inform the commentary, not the tables. IRS Form 990 Schedule J, which every tax-exempt hospital files, discloses named-executive total compensation including bonus, incentive, deferred, and retirement elements that OEWS excludes; filings are public at irs.gov. Industry compensation surveys published by hospital associations and healthcare compensation consultancies inform the incentive-structure column, which describes prevailing plan design rather than a measured wage.
First-party data
Engaged Headhunters has completed more than 500 executive placements since 2009, including hospital and health system leadership searches. Offer data from those searches is used to sanity-check the modeled bands, not to set them. Where our search experience and the BLS-derived model disagree, this page reports the BLS-derived figure.
Update cadence
This page is rebuilt when BLS publishes a new OEWS vintage, which happens annually in the spring. The current vintage is May 2024. Corrections and source questions go to our contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a hospital CEO make?
Hospital CEOs earn a mean annual wage of $450,050, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2024, covering 3,170 chief executives employed in general medical and surgical hospitals. The bottom 10 percent of hospital CEOs earn $174,580 or less. BLS suppresses the published median because it exceeds the survey top code of $239,200; fitting a lognormal distribution to the two published anchors puts the hospital CEO median at approximately $376,100.
What is the highest paid healthcare CEO role?
The chief executive of a major academic or flagship hospital of 500 or more beds is the highest paid healthcare CEO role, with modeled wages between $760,300 and $1,160,400 per year. Chief executives of multi-hospital health systems earn more still, though their total compensation is disclosed on IRS Form 990 Schedule J rather than captured in the BLS wage survey. By contrast, the chief executive of a critical access hospital under 25 beds earns between $174,600 and $251,100.
How much do hospital CEOs make by state?
Hospital CEO pay varies by roughly 80 percent between the highest and lowest paying states. The District of Columbia leads at an estimated $614,500, followed by New York at $571,600 and Washington at $546,700. Arkansas is lowest at an estimated $337,000, with Mississippi at $343,200 and Alabama at $354,600. Estimates index the BLS national hospital chief executive mean to each state's published median wage for medical and health services managers.
Why does BLS not publish a median hospital CEO salary?
The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey top-codes wages at $239,200 per year. Any percentile above that threshold is published as a suppression marker rather than a dollar figure. Because more than half of hospital chief executives earn above the top code, the median, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentiles are all suppressed for this occupation and industry. Only the mean annual wage of $450,050 and the 10th percentile of $174,580 are published.
Is hospital CEO pay higher than other chief executive pay?
Yes. Chief executives in general medical and surgical hospitals earn a mean annual wage of $450,050, compared with $262,930 for chief executives across all industries and $251,510 for chief executives across the whole healthcare and social assistance sector. Hospital chief executives therefore earn 71 percent more than the average American chief executive.
How does Form 990 compensation compare with BLS hospital CEO wages?
IRS Form 990 Schedule J figures run materially higher than BLS wage figures for the same executives. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics measures straight-time wages and salaries and excludes annual bonuses, long-term incentive payouts, deferred compensation, and retirement contributions. Schedule J requires tax-exempt hospitals to report all of those elements as reportable and other compensation, so a hospital CEO with a BLS-basis wage of $450,000 may appear on a Form 990 at $700,000 or more in total compensation.
Related Executive Search Resources
If you are budgeting a search rather than a salary, our breakdown of how much a headhunter costs sets out contingency and retained fee percentages against the same BLS salary data used on this page. Executives comparing offers across sectors often look at wealth management recruiters and at CFO executive search, where finance leadership pay tracks a different curve from clinical operations.
For regional hospital searches, we publish market-level detail through our Richmond headhunters and Birmingham headhunters practices, and cover the finance side of hospital leadership at healthcare CFO search.
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James Pemberton
Founder, Engaged Headhunters
James is a U.S. Navy veteran who has completed 500+ executive placements since 2009 across healthcare, technology, and finance. He founded Engaged Headhunters in 2022 to bring a research-first approach to executive search.