Directors of large U.S. public companies are paid roughly $325,000 to $346,000 a year, depending on the survey. Spencer Stuart reports an average of $346,290 for S&P 500 directors in its 2026 Index, and other surveys report medians between about $325,000 and $342,000. Private company boards pay far less: a 2025 survey found a median of $50,000 per director. Most nonprofit board members are unpaid. These are survey figures, not a promise of a seat or of any level of pay.
How much do public company directors make?
| Source | Companies covered | Figure | Average or median | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer Stuart U.S. Board Index | S&P 500 (490 proxies) | $346,290 (2025: $336,352) | Average; excludes the independent chair’s fee | 2026 Index |
| Compensation Advisory Partners | 100 largest U.S. public companies | $342,000 (from $335,000) | Median | 2026 proxies |
| NACD and Pearl Meyer | Top 200: the 200 largest S&P 500 companies by revenue | $333,341 | Median | 2025 |
| FW Cook | 300 U.S. public companies; large-cap | $330,000 (mid-cap $278,000; small-cap $229,000) | Median | 2026 report |
| The Conference Board | S&P 500 | About $325,000 | Median | Pay for fiscal 2024 |
| The Conference Board | Russell 3000 | $257,000 | Median | Pay for fiscal 2024 |
| NACD and Pearl Meyer | 1,400 public companies of all sizes | $249,438 (micro companies $177,857) | Median | 2025 |
FW Cook does not state the data year on its page, and its page does not define the company-size cutoffs.
What is in a public company director’s pay?
- Mostly stock. In the S&P 500, stock awards are 60 percent of the average package and cash is 36 percent, according to Spencer Stuart. FW Cook says equity is about 60 percent of total pay.
- A retainer. The median annual cash retainer is $75,000 across the 1,400 companies in the NACD and Pearl Meyer data. Among S&P 500 boards, Spencer Stuart reports a median annual board retainer of $115,000 and an average of $152,869.
- Extra pay for leadership roles. Spencer Stuart’s S&P 500 averages: $32,436 more for an audit committee chair, $26,281 for a compensation committee chair, $23,056 for a nominating committee chair, $55,272 for a lead director and $176,321 for an independent board chair.
How much do private company directors make?
Much less. Compensation Advisory Partners’ 2025 survey covers 633 private and family-owned companies, with average revenue of $138 million. It found a median total of $50,000 per director, up 25 percent from the year before, and a median annual cash retainer of $38,800. 77 percent of the companies pay a retainer, and 90 percent pay directors something.
One detail: the survey’s table labels the $50,000 row “average pay to one director,” while its notes and text say median. We use the survey’s own words, median total pay per director.
What about startup and advisory boards?
We found no reliable, sourced dollar figure for cash pay on startup or advisory boards. The same survey says pay for directors on advisory boards is typically 65 percent to 75 percent of pay for directors on fiduciary boards. It also says a model that pays only in equity is used by 6 percent of respondents, typically start-ups or private equity and venture capital owned companies.
Do nonprofit board members get paid?
Most do not. BoardSource says board members typically serve as volunteers, that paying them is legally permissible under certain conditions and that the pay must be reasonable. Even unpaid directors appear on the Form 990, which tells filers to list directors “regardless of amount of compensation” and to enter -0- if none was paid. We found no reliable figure for the share of nonprofits that pay directors.
How can you see what a real company pays its directors?
Public companies report it. SEC Regulation S-K Item 402(k) requires a director compensation table in the company’s proxy statement. It lists, for each director, fees earned or paid in cash, stock awards, option awards, other compensation and a total.
How much time does a board seat take?
It depends on who you ask. NACD says an independent director’s time commitment has grown from less than 250 hours to more than 300 hours a year over the last decade. Spencer Stuart’s 2024 survey of 751 U.S. directors reported an average of 200 hours a year. In the private company survey, one-third of respondents spend 51 to 100 hours a year on board work, and another 21 percent spend more than 100. The surveys use different samples and definitions, so we do not average them.
What does this mean for you?
These figures describe a small number of seats. Spencer Stuart counted 364 new independent directors on S&P 500 boards in 2026, the lowest number since 2016. If you are thinking about a seat, read our guide to how to become a corporate board director. If you are not sure you will be asked, read why you should stop waiting to be asked.
BDI’s Corporate Board Fundamentals course ($497) teaches what directors do and owe the company. No course can promise a seat or any level of pay. The video and voice in BDI courses use an AI-generated version of Michael Barrick, who reviewed and approved the lessons.