Figures for 2024 are a projection. Compensation data has been taken from the top 350 publicly owned firms in the United States for each year, ranked by sales.
CEO compensation contains salary, bonuses, restricted stock grants, options granted, and long-term incentive payouts. Values based off the "realized CEO compensation", which captures the value of stock-related components that accrues after options or stock awards are granted by including “stock options exercised” and “vested stock awards.”
Worker salary is the annual average compensation of production and nonsupervisory workers in the key industry of the firm.
Citation formats
CEO-to-worker compensation ratio of top firms in the U.S. 1965-2024
In 2024, it was estimated that the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was about ***** in the United States. This indicates that, on average, CEOs received more than *** times the annual average salary of production and non-supervisory workers in the key industry of their firm.
Profit from the additional features of your individual account
Currently, you are using a shared account. To use individual functions (e.g., mark statistics as favourites, set
statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account.
If you are an admin, please authenticate by logging in again.
Learn more about how Statista can support your business.
Economic Policy Institute. (September 25, 2025). CEO-to-worker compensation ratio for the 350 largest publicly owned companies in the United States from 1965 to 2024 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved May 08, 2026, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/261463/ceo-to-worker-compensation-ratio-of-top-firms-in-the-us/
Economic Policy Institute. "CEO-to-worker compensation ratio for the 350 largest publicly owned companies in the United States from 1965 to 2024." Chart. September 25, 2025. Statista. Accessed May 08, 2026. https://www.statista.com/statistics/261463/ceo-to-worker-compensation-ratio-of-top-firms-in-the-us/
Economic Policy Institute. (2025). CEO-to-worker compensation ratio for the 350 largest publicly owned companies in the United States from 1965 to 2024. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: May 08, 2026. https://www.statista.com/statistics/261463/ceo-to-worker-compensation-ratio-of-top-firms-in-the-us/
Economic Policy Institute. "Ceo-to-worker Compensation Ratio for The 350 Largest Publicly Owned Companies in The United States from 1965 to 2024." Statista, Statista Inc., 25 Sep 2025, https://www.statista.com/statistics/261463/ceo-to-worker-compensation-ratio-of-top-firms-in-the-us/
Economic Policy Institute, CEO-to-worker compensation ratio for the 350 largest publicly owned companies in the United States from 1965 to 2024 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/261463/ceo-to-worker-compensation-ratio-of-top-firms-in-the-us/ (last visited May 08, 2026)
CEO-to-worker compensation ratio for the 350 largest publicly owned companies in the United States from 1965 to 2024 [Graph], Economic Policy Institute, September 25, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/261463/ceo-to-worker-compensation-ratio-of-top-firms-in-the-us/