Chief of Staff salary in 2026

Most Chiefs of Staff negotiate against the wrong number. They search "chief of staff salary", find a figure that blends government chiefs of staff, military officers and total compensation, and walk into the offer call anchored on something that doesn't describe their job. Two people called Chief of Staff can be paid $95,000 and $240,000 and both be fairly paid, because the market prices a level, at a company size, in a city, and the title tells you none of those.

Our salary surveys of Chiefs of Staff go back to 2019. Below are the 2025 survey figures by each of those cuts, what 2026 job postings advertise, and how to use them when you accept, negotiate or ask for a raise. I'll say where our data is thin as we go.

How much does a Chief of Staff make?

A Chief of Staff earns an average base salary of $167,954, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents). The median is $160,000 and the most common salary is $150,000, so a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up.

Almost two thirds of Chiefs of Staff earn between $100,000 and $200,000, and only about 1% reported a base under $50,000. North American Chiefs of Staff average $175,641, the highest of any region we surveyed, so if you're in the US or Canada, that's the better headline for you. The top of the range is growing: 22.9% of respondents earned more than $200,000 in 2025, up from 20.59% in our 2024 Salary Report and 17% in 2023.

Salary sites usually show higher figures because they mix base pay with total compensation, blend government and military chiefs of staff with business roles, and rarely say how many people they asked. Our number is base salary only, reported as an exact figure by Chiefs of Staff in business roles, which makes it the one line of an offer you can bank. Don't benchmark yourself against the average, though. It spans six levels and every company size, so use the figure for your level and company size instead.

How does Chief of Staff salary change by level?

Chief of Staff pay roughly doubles from the bottom level to the top. Analyst or Associate-level Chiefs of Staff average $91,462 and Executive or CXO-level Chiefs of Staff average $193,999, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents).

Our Leveling Framework defines six levels by how much the person shapes strategic decisions: not involved, implements them, gives meaningful input, or is a key influencer. Respondents picked their own level against the framework, which makes the level data the most useful cut in the survey.

The entry level has the tightest band, because junior Chief of Staff roles look alike from company to company. The bands widen as you go up: a Manager-level Chief of Staff can earn anywhere from $110,000 to $182,000, and a Director can earn less than some Managers. The biggest single step is from Senior Associate to Manager, about $33,000. Rahul Desai, then our general manager, noted on our 2024 salary report episode that the steps between levels had become less even than in 2023, when about $20,000 per level was typical, so ask what the new band is before you assume a promotion's raise.

Nick Greif went from Chief of Staff to a Los Angeles City Council member to Chief of Staff at the education company InStride. He asked exactly where the private-sector role sat on the spectrum from executive assistant to executive-level Chief of Staff, and made a seat in board meetings a condition of the offer. That one requirement told both sides which level he was hiring into.

My strongest advice in this guide: settle the level before you talk about money. If a company calls the role "Chief of Staff" with no level attached, ask which of its existing leaders the role sits beside. That answer is your band. Ask yourself which meetings you run, what you can decide without asking, and whether you see the board materials before they go out; two or more strong yeses usually put you at Director level or above.

The spread between Chief of Staff levels is over $100,000, more than twice the spread between industries, so agree the level before you discuss salary.

We've written deeper breakdowns of Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3, and our guide to Chief of Staff skills maps what moves you up each level.

Do bigger companies pay their Chief of Staff more?

Yes, and it's the clearest pattern in our data. Chiefs of Staff at companies with more than 10,000 employees average about $200,000, while those at companies with 11 to 50 employees average $141,705, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents).

Across the nine size bands, average pay climbs almost in a straight line (a trend line fits with an R² of 0.80), then flattens near $200,000 past 10,000 employees. Part of the pattern is level: we saw no Level 1 or 2 roles above 10,000 employees. Part of it is pay bands: big companies slot the Chief of Staff into the band of the leaders they sit beside, and a role that doesn't fit an existing job family can get pinned to the middle of one.

Startups pay less cash and give more title. About one in five Chiefs of Staff at companies of up to 500 people hold an Executive or CXO level in our data, against 5% at companies over 50,000. The mistake is taking startup cash without startup scope, or big-company scope without big-company cash. A 40-person company that pays $140,000 should give you the planning cycle, the board deck and a seat at the leadership table. A 3,000-person company that gives you a project list should still pay the band of the leaders you report into.

What does a Chief of Staff earn in New York, San Francisco and other cities?

Chiefs of Staff in New York City average $186,498 and in San Francisco $193,577, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents). Of the US cities we tracked, New York pays the biggest average bonus, $83,128.

Treat city numbers as directional. We only show cities with five or more responses, and in a small group one high earner moves the average a lot. Portland's lead comes from a small sample, and Los Angeles equity and the bonus figures for Berlin and Houston each reflect one or two very large values.

New York's large bonuses likely reflect its finance-heavy employers. European base salaries sit well below US ones: London averages $161,393, Berlin $127,857 and Paris $100,083. Outside North America and Europe, South America averages $109,250 and Africa $58,000.

Remote roles are usually benchmarked to a pay zone: the headquarters city, a national average or the lowest-cost zone the company hires in. A New York company can pay a remote Chief of Staff in Denver at either city's rates, so ask which zone the role is benchmarked to before the offer arrives.

Which industries pay Chiefs of Staff the most?

Sports and media, fintech and consumer software pay Chiefs of Staff the most. Sports and media averaged $187,082 and climate $141,222, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents).

Fintech and finance averaged $182,083, consumer software $181,833 and healthcare $180,325. Most technology sectors land between about $176,000 and $182,000, including B2B SaaS, the largest single group at 16% of respondents. At the low end, non-profit averaged $153,898, edtech $148,787 and climate $141,222. The top-to-bottom gap of about $46,000 is less than half the gap between levels, and part of the low end is company size, because climate and edtech companies in our sample skew small. A Director role at a 2,000-person climate company will likely pay more than a Manager role at a 40-person fintech.

What do Chief of Staff bonus and equity look like?

Most Chiefs of Staff get a modest bonus and some equity. 38.4% received no bonus at all, and of those who did, about 63% received 20% of base or less, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents).

The most common nonzero bonus was $10,000, and the average nonzero bonus was $47,234, pulled up by a few large ones. 82% of bonus recipients received 30% of base or less, and 3.5% earned a bonus larger than their base, almost all in finance-heavy roles. Equity grants ranged from $1,000 to $16 million. The median was $101,417 and the mean $470,913, the most common grant was worth $50,000 to $100,000 (21.7% of those with equity), and 5.8% reported grants worth $1 million or more. A few people hold life-changing grants, and most hold a grant that may or may not be worth something in five years.

To put a number on a startup grant, multiply the options by the gap between the latest preferred share price and your strike price, then discount it: preferred investors get paid back first, later rounds dilute you, and most startups never sell at a higher price. Public-company RSUs are close to cash, minus share-price risk. Here's the arithmetic on an illustrative Series A offer: 40,000 options at a $1.20 strike, a last preferred price of $4.00 and 50 million fully diluted shares.

1. Paper value: 40,000 × ($4.00 − $1.20) = $112,000, vesting over four years, so $28,000 a year.
2. Your stake: 40,000 ÷ 50,000,000 = 0.08% of the company today.
3. Dilution: if the company raises two more rounds that each sell about 20% of the company, your 0.08% becomes about 0.05%.
4. Exit math: at a $300 million sale, 0.05% is $150,000 before your exercise cost and before preferred investors are paid back. At a $100 million sale, it may be close to nothing once preferences are paid.

The $28,000 a year is the number a founder will quote; the honest range runs from zero to a little above that. Ask how long you have to exercise after you leave, because a 90-day window can force you to pay the strike price, plus tax in some cases, on short notice. And ask whether the company refreshes grants, or a Chief of Staff whose scope doubles in year two keeps vesting at the rate set for the smaller job.

My take: price private equity at zero when you compare offers, then treat it as upside. If a company says the equity makes up for a low base and can't share the share count, fully diluted shares, strike price and last preferred price, the base is the offer.

When you compare offers, value private-company equity at zero and compare the base salaries.

This week, ask for those four equity numbers in writing before your next compensation conversation, even if you're not negotiating yet.

How do you evaluate a Chief of Staff offer?

Compare the offer with the figures for your level, company size and city, then score the mandate as hard as the money. A Chief of Staff offer is fair when the base sits inside the middle-50% range for its level and the role has a written scope and a path after it.

The three offers below are fictional, built to show how the benchmarks work together. Each is a common shape we hear about from members.

Offer A is a reasonable first offer with room to move. $160,000 is the global median, but Boston averages $180,316 and 201 to 500 person companies $181,273, and at Director scope a 300-person company in Boston should put you in the top half of the $132,000 to $202,000 range. Ask for $175,000 to $185,000, and get the equity facts before you value the options at anything.

Offer B looks low against the Executive average and is normal for a 25-person company. An Executive title at a seed company is common and moves your next offer, and 0.4% is only worth something once you know the fully diluted share count and future raises. Price it at zero, decide whether the scope alone is worth $150,000, and if it is, ask for a written 12-month compensation review tied to the Series A.

Offer C is the safest and the most likely to be under-scoped. $195,000 plus a 15% bonus is fair for a Director at a large company, a little under the size benchmark but above Chicago's average. Big companies often hire a Chief of Staff into a band and then hand them a project list, so ask how often the bonus has paid out in full, and get the mandate in writing.

When the level and size benchmarks disagree, as they do in all three, use the lower as your floor and the higher as your ask. A role with no mandate turns into an expensive executive assistant job, so compare the offer with what a strong Chief of Staff job description should say.

# Chief of Staff offer checklist

## Level
- [ ] The level is named (Leveling Framework level or the company's own)
- [ ] I know which leaders this role sits beside
- [ ] I know which decisions I can make without asking

## Base
- [ ] Base is inside the middle-50% range for my level (Chief of Staff Network 2025 Salary Report)
- [ ] Base is within 10% of the average for my company size
- [ ] Base is within 10% of my city average, or I know the remote pay zone

## Bonus
- [ ] Target bonus as a % of base
- [ ] What it's tied to (company metrics you can influence, or the principal's discretion)
- [ ] How often it has paid out in full in the last two years

## Equity (private company)
- [ ] Number of options or shares
- [ ] Fully diluted share count
- [ ] Strike price and latest preferred share price
- [ ] Vesting schedule and cliff
- [ ] Exercise window after I leave
- [ ] I've valued it at zero for the comparison

## Equity (public company)
- [ ] RSU value and vesting schedule
- [ ] Refresh grant policy

## Mandate and path
- [ ] Three to five written outcomes for the first 90 days
- [ ] Written compensation review date (12 months or sooner)
- [ ] A named next role or review point at 18 to 24 months

Treat any box you can't tick as a question for the company; many have never been asked. [SCOTT: one line on what you'd ask for now that you didn't when you took the Spring role?] For a second opinion, the prompt below carries our benchmarks. Describe what you'll own and decide, along with the title, because that's how it infers the level.

Act as a compensation advisor for Chief of Staff roles. Use these benchmarks from the Chief of Staff Network 2025 Salary Report (base salary, US dollars):

By level (average, middle 50%): Analyst/Associate $91,462 ($83K to $101K); Senior Associate/Junior Manager $111,474 ($78K to $135K); Manager/Senior Manager $144,464 ($110K to $182K); Director $173,667 ($132K to $202K); VP $186,739 ($145K to $219K); Executive/CXO $193,999 ($141K to $220K).
By company headcount (average): 1 to 10 $144,841; 11 to 50 $141,705; 51 to 200 $151,919; 201 to 500 $181,273; 501 to 1,000 $160,482; 1,001 to 5,000 $184,850; 5,001 to 10,000 $217,385; 10,001 to 50,000 $200,807; 50,000+ $202,633.
Overall: average $167,954, median $160,000. North America average $175,641. 38.4% get no bonus; most bonuses are 20% of base or less. Median equity grant $101,417, mean $470,913.

My offer:
- Company, headcount, stage and city: [ ]
- Who I report to: [ ]
- What I'll own and decide: [ ]
- Base, bonus, equity: [ ]
- My years of experience: [ ]

1. Tell me which level this role is, based on what I'll own and decide, and why.
2. Compare my base with the level and company-size benchmarks and tell me the gap in dollars.
3. List the questions I should ask about the bonus and equity before I value them.
4. Suggest a counteroffer number with a one-sentence justification I can use.
Be direct. Don't give me a range of opinions.

This week, run your current or pending offer through the checklist, then the prompt, and write down the one number you'd counter with.

How do you negotiate a Chief of Staff salary or a raise?

Negotiate the level and scope first, then the base, then bonus and equity. Whether it's a new offer or a raise, the case rests on the same three things: the level your scope maps to, the market figure for that level and company size, and outcomes you can put numbers on.

Founders and executives are often better at this conversation than the people they're hiring. Our team's advice to members is to write a reverse job description before the first call: one page, just for you, with the work you want, the level, your compensation floor and where you want to be in two years. When a persuasive founder starts trading your title for "huge upside", the page stops you agreeing in the room.

Negotiating a new offer

1. Ask which leaders the role sits beside. If the answer is the VPs, the VP average is $186,739. Ask in the second interview, where it reads as curiosity.
2. Anchor with the figure for your level and company size. "Director-level Chiefs of Staff average $173,667, and companies with 201 to 500 people average $181,273, in the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 data" is a hard sentence to argue with.
3. Trade cash for title only with eyes open. If a startup can't move base, ask for the title, a 12-month compensation review and a larger grant, all in writing.
4. Get the equity facts in writing: share count, fully diluted shares, strike price, last preferred price, vesting and the exercise window after you leave.
5. Tie the bonus to metrics you can affect, like the company OKRs whose process you run. One tied to "principal discretion" can shrink in a bad quarter for reasons you never see.

Open with what the role will return, then name the number. A Chief of Staff who takes the planning cycle and the board deck off the CEO gives the CEO back time every quarter, and that time is what the company is paying for. A one-page mandate shows the scope you're pricing, and our post on learning to negotiate covers general technique.

Asking for a raise

Ask in your company's review cycle, with a number tied to the market for your level and evidence of measurable impact. A raise request lands when the ask is smaller than the value you can show.

On the same episode, Rahul Desai said people in the role struggle to describe their impact in numbers, and "I helped with the board deck, the all-hands and OKRs" doesn't move a compensation committee. Tie some of your work to a metric, so you can say the raise is "not only in line with market, it's much less than the benefit I have generated for the company." Kyle Hagge, Chief of Staff at Morning Brew, made the same point in our episode on driving the most impact: companies keep and promote the people whose work clearly leads to revenue, and a Chief of Staff's work is one step removed, so you have to draw the line yourself.

Most companies run performance cycles in January and February, and many run a second in summer. Walk in with a case already written: what changed in your scope since your pay was set, two or three outcomes with numbers, and the market figure for your level and company size. If your salary was set in 2022 or 2023 and your scope has grown since, the raise you want is usually a promotion in disguise.

# Compensation review: [Your name], Chief of Staff to [Principal]

## Scope today vs. when my pay was set ([month, year])
- Then: [e.g. ran leadership meeting logistics and two projects]
- Now: [e.g. own quarterly planning, the board deck and the operating review]
- Level this maps to: [e.g. Director, Chief of Staff Network Leveling Framework]

## Outcomes with numbers (last 12 months)
1. [Outcome + metric, e.g. planning cycle cut from 5 weeks to 2]
2. [Outcome + metric, e.g. vendor review saved $X a year]
3. [Outcome + metric, e.g. launched X a quarter ahead of plan]

## Market
- Current base: $[ ]
- Chief of Staff Network 2025 Salary Report, [level] average: $[ ]
- Same report, companies of our size ([headcount band]): $[ ]

## Ask
- Base of $[ ] effective [date]
- [Title change to ___, if scope has moved a level]
- Next review: [date]

# Compensation review: Alex, Chief of Staff to the CEO

## Scope today vs. when my pay was set (March 2024)
- Then: leadership meeting logistics and two projects
- Now: own quarterly planning, the board deck and the monthly operating review
- Level this maps to: Director, Chief of Staff Network Leveling Framework

## Outcomes with numbers (last 12 months)
1. Planning cycle cut from 5 weeks to 2; the Q3 plan closed on time for the first time
2. Software vendor review across 41 tools: $212,000 a year saved
3. Self-serve tier launched one quarter ahead of plan

## Market
- Current base: $158,000
- Chief of Staff Network 2025 Salary Report, Director average: $173,667
- Same report, companies of our size (201 to 500 people): $181,273

## Ask
- Base of $178,000 effective April 1
- Title change to Director, Chief of Staff
- Next review: October

What to do when the answer is no

Most first answers to a raise request are some version of no, and the version tells you what to do next.

1. "There's no budget this cycle." The case landed and the timing didn't. Ask for a date and a number in writing, tied to the next cycle or funding event.
2. "That's more than the role pays." The company sees a lower level than you do. Ask for a re-level review against the decisions you now make, with a named owner for the review.
3. "Let's see how the next quarter goes." The case didn't land. Ask which two outcomes would change their mind, and agree them now.

The second answer is usually a level problem dressed as a pay problem. A plain "Chief of Staff" title advertises a median of $174,000 in 2026 postings, against $230,000 when the title carries VP, Director or Head, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2026 Pathways Report, and only about 8% of completed Chief of Staff stints end with a bigger Chief of Staff title at the same company. Ask for the re-level by name.

At a startup, cash is often the real limit, so ask for a title change, a larger or refreshed grant and a written review tied to the next round; Rahul Desai noted that review cycles there often run every six or twelve months. At a large company, your principal usually can't move your base outside the band, so ask them to start a move into a different band or job family through HR and tell you who decides. Keep the case about the scope you've taken on, don't bring an outside offer unless you're prepared to take it, and put the agreed date in your weekly note.

Staying is often worth the wait: Chiefs of Staff who stay at the same company step up on their next move 61% of the time, against 48% for those who leave. If two cycles pass with no movement on level or pay, the market is the next conversation.

Before Friday, list the three outcomes from the last year you could put a number on. If you can't find three, pick one piece of work for next quarter that you can measure.

Has Chief of Staff pay gone up?

Yes. Average Chief of Staff base salary rose from $142,533 in 2021 to $167,954 in 2025, according to the Chief of Staff Network's salary reports. That's an 18% increase in four years, with one dip in 2023 that reflects a change in who we surveyed that year.

In 2023 we collected far more responses from Africa, Asia and Latin America, where salaries are much lower in dollars, so the global average fell to $131,229 while the US, Canada, Europe and Australia averaged $144,121. Compare 2023 with other years using the second number. By 2024, average base was back around $154,000, with the median and mode at $150,000.

Most of the rise comes from a more senior role. More Chiefs of Staff now report at VP or Director level, and the 2025 VP average ($186,739) is higher than the 2024 Executive average ($186,232). Companies are paying for fewer project coordinators and more people who run the planning cycle and sit in the leadership meeting. The 2025 report has the year-by-year detail.

How much do experience and education matter?

Experience moves pay less than level does. Chiefs of Staff with 0 to 2 years of experience average $140,586 and those with 11 to 15 years average $179,046, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents).

Going from 0 to 2 years to 6 to 10 years ($169,483) adds about $29,000, less than moving up two levels. Pay jumps to about $220,000 after 16 years ($219,507 at 16 to 20 years, $222,500 at 20 or more), but that group is small and mostly holds executive-level roles at large companies. Lead with the level of decisions you've owned: "Ran the quarterly planning cycle for a 200-person company" moves an offer more than "seven years of experience".

Bachelor's degree holders average $171,693 and doctorate holders about $186,000, and 41% of respondents hold a master's. An MBA can help you get the interview at large companies that screen on it, but it doesn't move the number once you're there. Our guide on how to become a Chief of Staff covers when an MBA is worth it.

Is there a gender pay gap for Chiefs of Staff?

In our data, women Chiefs of Staff out-earn men on average. Women averaged $167,626 and men $163,150 in 2025, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents). The gap has narrowed from about $16,000 in 2024 ($157,170 against $140,456) and about $12,000 in 2023 ($134,751 against $122,337).

The cause is who holds the senior seats. Women hold 80% of Director-level and 69% of Executive-level Chief of Staff roles in our sample, and men are half of the entry level. The picture reverses late in a career: at 16 to 20 years, men average about $237,000 against $218,000 for women, and at 20+ years, $261,000 against $186,000. The senior groups are small, so read this with care.

If you set pay, run the comparison by level and tenure inside your company. Our guide to designing compensation bands shows how, and our guide on how to hire a Chief of Staff covers level and pay from the employer's side.

Do AI-fluent Chiefs of Staff earn more?

Yes. Chiefs of Staff who describe themselves as AI-first average $189,128, compared with $162,721 for AI-curious and $148,999 for AI novices, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2025 Salary Report (nearly 500 respondents). That's a 16% premium from curious to AI-first.

Chiefs of Staff at AI-enabled companies average about $26,000 more than those at AI-novice companies, so AI-forward companies pay more across the board. The individual premium is part skill and part selection, since you're more likely to be AI-first if you already work somewhere that pays well. The most interesting cell is small: AI-first Chiefs of Staff at AI-curious companies averaged about $243,000, which is the person who brings AI into a company that hasn't adopted it yet. Our Chief of AI Report and our guide to the AI-era Chief of Staff go deeper on who owns adoption.

What do Chief of Staff job postings pay?

Job postings advertise more than Chiefs of Staff report earning. Among the more than 1,800 Chief of Staff postings we tracked from about 1,430 employers, the median advertised salary was $180,000, according to the Chief of Staff Network's 2026 Pathways Report, counting only the postings that list pay. Typical postings ranged from $150,000 to $200,000, and the top quarter advertised over $225,000.

Only about one in five postings stated a salary, mostly in the US, where pay transparency laws apply, which skews the advertised number toward US, larger and more senior roles. Postings asking for 1 to 5 years of experience had a median of $155,000, and those asking for 11 or more years $221,000. Company size moves the number the way our survey does: $140,000 at 11 to 50 employees against $215,000 at 5,001 to 10,000. Roles with a VP, Director or Head title advertised a median of $230,000, against $174,000 for a plain "Chief of Staff", and combined Chief of Staff and Strategy roles $250,000. Our Pathways report has the full analysis; download the full report.

Among US postings that list pay, the Chief of Staff is the best-paid operator role outside AI leadership. A COO posting at a large company pays more than the operations median suggests, and many operations leaders are promoted without a posting at all. For most people coming from business operations or strategy, the role is a pay step up as well as a scope step up.