The Advisors' Blog

In this recent report (available for download), BDO highlights mid-market compensation trends, based on an analysis of 600 companies’ 2025 proxy disclosures. Here are a few key takeaways:

– CEO total direct compensation went up in six out of eight industries. The average CEO pay increase of 2.3% at the BDO 600 companies is lower than what has been reported at larger companies. For example, for the 2025 Equilar 100, median pay for 100 highly compensated S&P 500 CEOs increased by 9.5%, with the median value of stock awards increasing 40.5% in 2024.

– In aggregate, CEOs and CFOs experienced pay increases of 2.3% and 5.8%, respectively. When comparing year-over-year change, CEOs and CFOs experienced the following increases:

• CEOs were provided salary increases of 4.2% on average, while total cash increased by 4.5%. STI increased by 9.8%, reversing a two-year trend of decreases (71% decrease in 2023 and 5.1% decrease in 2022). LTI| increased by 1.1%, and TDC increased by 2.3%.

• CFOs received salary increases of 5.5% on average, while total cash increased by 3.9%.

• For CFOs also, STI increased by 10.6%, reversing a two-year trend of decreases (8.0% decrease in 2023 and 7.7% decrease in 2022). LTI increased by 6.0% and TDC increased by 5.8%.

If you’re thinking that “mid-market” might span a large range of company sizes and practices, the study addresses that by breaking down trends into 3 groups based on revenue size (or assets, for financial services), as well as industry groups. Not surprisingly, the disclosures show that pay is highly correlated with company size:

– Average CEO TDC ranges from $3,467,589 for the smallest companies (Size Group A) – to $7,326,556 for the largest companies in the sample (Size Group C).

– Average CFO TDC ranges from $1,456,672 for companies in Size Group A to $2,948,990 for companies in Size Group C.

– Large companies also awarded the largest pay increases for CEOs and CFOs. CEOs of large companies (Size Group C) experienced the largest increase in pay (3.2%) while CEOs of the smallest companies (Size Group A) experienced a 0.3% decrease. CEOs of midsized companies (Size Group B) experienced a 1.8% increase.

– CFO pay in Size Group C had the largest increase at 6.8%, while CFOs in Size Group B experienced a 4.0% increase. CFOs in Size Group A experienced an increase of 5.2%.

Check out the full survey for more info on the elements of compensation and industry-based trends. BDO also published an analysis of mid-market director compensation trends, which is available on the same download page. Even though the data is based on 2024 compensation practices that were disclosed in 2025, the benchmarking can still be helpful as compensation committees determine programs for the upcoming year.

Members of this site can access additional data in our “Compensation Surveys” Practice Area. (If you aren’t already a member, email info@ccrcorp.com.)

– Liz Dunshee