2014 AASA Superintendents Salary & Benefits Study: Non-Member Version

The 2014 AASA Superintendents Salary and Benefits Study is intended to provide superintendents with actionable information needed to manage their compensation. This edition marks the third year the association has undertaken a comprehensive study on public school superintendent compensation. Using a commercially prepared mailing list of American public school superintendents, more than 9,000 email invitations to participate were distributed during the month of September 2014. At the same time, state association executive directors were contacted to encourage their members to respond to the Internet survey. Superintendents had the capacity to forward the link to their staff members for input in completing the survey in their area of expertise. The 2014 survey resulted in 1,711 responses, or about 19 percent of those surveyed. This report of findings is divided into 9 sections and solely relies on measures of central tendency for this initial analysis of the data collected. These data were generally disaggregated by gender, district enrollment, and racial/ethnic group. The survey's key findings included: (1) Base salaries ranged from $36,000 to $315,000, with an average salary of $122,000 and a median salary of $113,000; (2) Respondents are predominately male (79 percent), White (94 percent) and from intermediate-sized districts (300-2,499 students) regardless of their gender; (3) Female respondents were, on average, older than male respondents (53.1 to 51.7 percent respectively); and (4) A three-year trend of improving economic conditions continues. Slightly more than half of the respondents (53 percent) reported their districts' economic conditions as stable. (50 percent in 2013; 45 percent in 2012). The survey revealed a small trend toward longer longevity compared with 2013 results. Over half of respondents described their districts' economic conditions as stable for the first time; this year, 53 percent said so, compared to 50 percent in 2013 and 45 percent in 2012. Despite this positive change, nearly four in 10 respondents still described their districts' economic conditions as declining. [For the 2013 report, see "2013 Superintendents Salary & Benefits Study" (ED553307).]