Median CEO pay climbs 6% to $17.7 million in 2025

The median compensation package for chief executives at major U.S. corporations rose nearly 6% in 2025 to $17.7 million, according to an annual survey of pay data. The increase came as corporate boards rewarded top executives for driving bigger profits and higher stock prices, while also creating incentives for them to remain with their companies.

The survey, which analyzed pay for 337 CEOs at S&P 500 companies who served at least two full fiscal years, found the median employee at those firms earned $89,744 in 2025, a 4.7% increase from the prior year. While that employee wage gain outpaced inflation for the year, the data highlighted a persistent and growing pay gap. At half the companies surveyed, it would take a worker earning the median pay 200 years to make what their CEO earned in one year, an increase from 192 years in the prior year’s survey.

The largest pay ratios often occur in industries with typically low wages. For example, the CEO of Coca-Cola earned nearly 1,739 times the company’s median worker pay of $17,947. At retailer TJX Cos., the CEO makes about 1,774 times the median worker’s pay. Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies criticized the trend,...