CEO Salaries: What CEOs Get Paid in Different Industries

Just as salaries vary from country to country, CEO salaries vary from one industry to the next. This can depend on a number of aspects.

In an article by the Economic Policy Institute published in August, 2019, CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978. And this depends on factors such as the experience of the CEO, the kind of company, and the industry.

Here are some of the different CEO salaries in different industries in the US and in India.

Automobile industry

The auto industry has some of the highest salaries in the world. According to a May 2020 article on WheelsJoint.com Ford CEO Jim Hackett took home a basic salary of $1,800,000 and a total compensation of $17,400,000 in 2019. The General Motors CEO, Mary Barra’s salary totalled $21,630,000 in 2019.

• US
  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CEOs in motor vehicle manufacturing companies reported an average salary of $200,750 per year in 2012.
• India
  In a report dated January, 2021, the average CEO salary in India for the automobile industry ranges between ₹19,00,000 to ₹1,02,00,000 with an average annual salary of ₹30,03,000.

Health care industry

• US
  The average health care CEO salary in 2020 in the US was $153,479, according to PayScale. Including bonuses, profit-sharing, and commissions, their salaries range between $72,000 to $395,000.
• India
  In an update by AmbitionBox in November 2020, the average health care CEO salary in India ranged between ₹30,00,000 to ₹100,00,000 with an average annual salary of ₹ 65,05,000.

Technology industry

Tech CEOs are also known to have some of the highest salaries in the world. This Bloomberg article from July 2020 outlines just how much some of the highest paid CEOs made in 2019 including Elon Musk and Sudar Pichai.

• US
  In an S&P Global article from September 2020, according to a study by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the average total CEO compensation in the U.S. in the TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) sector topped all other sectors at $26,300,000 in 2019.
• India
  According to an update by AmbitionBox from January 2020, the average annual CEO salary in India ranges between ₹21,60,000 to ₹27,60,000.

Construction industry

• US
  According to Indeed, the average CEO salary in the construction business in the United States is $117,326 annually.
• India
  While in India, according to an update on January, 2021 on AmbitionBox, the average annual salary for CEOs ranges between ₹8,20,000 to ₹10,20,000.

E-commerce industry

• US
  The average base CEO salary according to PayScale is $210,000 annually in the United States in an update from August 2018.
• India
  While the average CEO salary in E-commerce in India ranges between ₹5,40,000 to ₹6,90,000 according to AmbitionBox.

According to Chron, here are the average CEO salaries for some other industries in 2019:

• Consumer defense: $13.9 million
• Energy: $13.5 million
• Financial services: $12.1 million
• Industrials: $11.6 million
• Basic materials: $11.6 million
• Consumer cyclical: $11.1 million
• Utilities: $10.6 million
• Real estate: $10.4 million

Depending on how every industry does overall in the global market, CEO salaries change constantly. Some CEOs also opt to have a certain salary consistently regardless of how the market and their industry is doing. All of these factors affect the average and should be taken into consideration. Overall, the auto industry and the tech industry have some of the highest CEO salaries in the world.