Median CEO Pay Topped $17.1 Million In 2024, While Median Employee Pay Increased Just 1.7%

Madison Troyer

Wed, Jun 18, 2025, 10:46 AM 3 min read

The typical compensation package for S&P 500 CEOs rose by nearly 10% in 2024, according to an Associated Press CEO compensation survey.

The median pay package for CEOs rose to $17.1 million in 2024, up 9.7% from the previous year. Meanwhile, median compensation for employees at these companies went up just 1.7% to $85,419.

Additionally, the S&P 500 rose 23% in 2024, and profits for those companies went up 9%.

"2024 was expected to be a strong year, so the (nearly) 10% increases are commensurate with the timing of the pay decisions," Dan Laddin, a partner at Compensation Advisory Partners, told AP.

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Raises for the average employee were "long overdue," according to Institute for Policy Studies Global Economy Project Director Sarah Anderson. Still, many workers in the U.S. struggle to pay their bills, especially lower earners.

Top earners in the survey included Axon Enterprises’ (NASDAQ:AXON) Rick Smith, who has a pay package valued at $164.5 million, GE Aerospace's (NYSE:GE) Lawrence Culp, Apple's (NASDAQ:APPL) Tim Cook, Carrier Global's (NYSE:CARR) David Gitlin, and Netflix's (NASDAQ:NFLX) Ted Sarandos.

The bulk of the pay packages for these top earners consisted of stock or options awards, the survey found. The median stock award went up by 15% in 2024, while base salaries only grew by 4%.

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"For CEOs, target long-term incentives consistently increase more each year than salaries or bonuses," Melissa Burek, a partner with Compensation Advisory Partners, told the AP. "Given the significant role that long-term incentives play in executive pay, this trend makes sense."

Morningstar Sustainalytic Senior Director of Stewardship Jackie Cook also told the AP that there are benefits to tying CEO pay to performance, but noted that increased use of share-based pay has led to a "phenomenal rise" in CEO compensation "tracking recent years' market performance," which has "widened the pay gap within workplaces."