By Alexis Whyte
HR has proven to be an integral piece of company success, profitability, and strategic planning. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), HR jobs are expected to grow by 6% in the next 10 years, the fastest growth for any occupation. Due to this undeniable impact on company metrics, the most senior HR executive position, typically the chief human resources officer (CHRO), is now considered an integral member of the C-suite. With more responsibility and pressure than ever, HR executive compensation should be accurately reflected given their increasing impact on company performance.
Every year, HRO Today publishes its CHRO Compensation Study to garner insights into the value attributed to CHROs and how this is reflected into HR executive compensation. The analysis includes publicly available Fortune 1000 data and CHRO compensation data on 188 senior HR executives from those companies, a sample of 18.8%. In the full report, the data is segmented into Fortune 50, Fortune 100, Fortune 200, and Fortune 500 subcategories. In these segmentations, HRO Today studies correlations to salary, total cash compensation, and non-cash compensation like stock options and grants.
To dive deeper into how HR practitioners feel about their organization’s compensation, HRO Today surveyed over 300 executives from its network and compared the survey results to prior waves of the study. Using these sets of data, HRO Today hopes to provide a comprehensive and overarching view of the CHRO compensation structure, practices, and perceptions. This topline version of the CHRO compensation report includes key findings from survey analysis and publicly available compensation data.
Key findings on compensation data include the following.
Men earn more on average than women in the Fortune 1000, $2,868,446 versus $2,860,937, respectively. The full report will include segmentation by Fortune 1000. However, three out of the four highest paid CHROs were women. Their salary data was removed from calculations shown throughout the report as they were considered outliers. However, if those outliers were included, women would earn more than men in the Fortune 1000.
The correlation between CHRO compensation levels and company performance has weakened in the Fortune 50. In prior studies, compensation levels and company performance metrics have correlated nearly perfectly. In 2025, total compensation versus EBITDA and total compensation versus market capitalization are weaker than usual, at 0.54 and 0.47, respectively, versus 0.95 and 0.94 in 2024.
Correlation Between CHRO Compensation and Fortune 50 Company Performance Metrics
Key findings from survey analysis include the following.
When asked, fewer than half (46%) of senior HR executives agree that CHRO compensation aligns with other C-suite executives. This marks the first decrease since 2023. Note that in some cases, the CHRO was the survey respondent.
HR practitioners continue to feel undercompensated compared to other departments. Only 32% of respondents believe their HR department is compensated fairly compared to others.
Most senior HR executives believe CHRO compensation should be determined by the number of employees. Respondents were asked if senior HR compensation should correlate with the number of employees or company profits; the majority favored the number of employees. However, historically, there is not a strong positive correlation between compensation and company size in the Fortune 1000.
The full report will include how HR practitioners feel as a department; statistical correlations between CHRO compensation and company performance; a deeper look into the gender pay gap; and other recurring themes and sentiments regarding compensation within HR. Additionally, CHRO Compensation: The Minority Report will be available early 2026.
Visit https://www.hrotoday.com/research for updates and additional research reports.