The Jewish Nonprofit Salary Guide (2026)
By Tribester Team·August 30, 2026·4 min readHow much do jobs at Jewish nonprofits actually pay? It is one of the hardest questions to get a straight answer to — most job boards hide the number, and national salary surveys never break things down for the Jewish communal world. So we built the guide ourselves, from 462 real, currently-listed roles at Jewish nonprofits, federations, JCCs, and communal organizations across North America. Every figure below comes from an actual open posting with a disclosed salary range, pulled straight from the listings on Tribe Jobs — a living snapshot of the market rather than a one-time survey.
The short answer
Across all 462 roles, the median salary is $65,000. The middle half of jobs fall between $51,000 and $90,000 — so an offer in that band is squarely normal for the field. But that average hides a lot: what you do, how senior you are, and where the job sits all move the number dramatically. That is where this guide earns its keep.
Salary by role and function
The biggest driver of pay is simply what you do. Technical, executive, and fundraising roles sit at the top; direct-service, education, and administrative roles anchor the other end. Here is the median and typical range (25th to 75th percentile) for every function with enough listings to report reliably:
| Function | Median | Typical range | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering & Technology | $155,000 | $140,000–$168,000 | 8 |
| Executive & Leadership | $123,000 | $86,000–$165,000 | 38 |
| Fundraising & Development | $105,000 | $74,000–$125,000 | 68 |
| Legal & Compliance | $91,000 | $58,000–$155,000 | 7 |
| Sales & Business Development | $90,000 | $78,000–$135,000 | 5 |
| Advocacy & Policy | $83,000 | $59,000–$118,000 | 42 |
| Media & Content | $76,000 | $59,000–$85,000 | 7 |
| Accounting & Finance | $75,000 | $64,000–$95,000 | 16 |
| Marketing & Communications | $74,000 | $61,000–$145,000 | 17 |
| Event Planning | $73,000 | $50,000–$85,000 | 11 |
| People & Human Resources | $68,000 | $57,000–$90,000 | 24 |
| Administrative & Operations | $63,000 | $54,000–$80,000 | 44 |
| Program & Project Management | $60,000 | $53,000–$82,000 | 104 |
| Healthcare & Wellness | $55,000 | $47,000–$73,000 | 129 |
| Education & Training | $51,000 | $37,000–$68,000 | 74 |
| Arts & Entertainment | $44,000 | $33,000–$73,000 | 5 |
Fundraising is the headline. Development roles carry a median around $100,000, well above the field average, because organizations pay for people who can bring money in. If you are early in a Jewish communal career and want a clear path toward higher pay, development and major gifts is it. At the other end, education and direct-service roles pay less in salary but are often where the mission feels most tangible.
The tables reflect where most listings sit. The very top of the market looks different: chief-executive, executive-director, and chief-development roles at larger federations and national organizations run from roughly $250,000 into the $400,000s. They are a small share of postings, but they are real — and worth knowing if leadership is your trajectory.
Salary by location
Where a job is matters almost as much as what it is. California and the New York and New Jersey metro pay the most; smaller markets pay less, though usually alongside a lower cost of living. Here is the median by state, for the states with the most current listings:
| Location | Median | Typical range | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $73,000 | $55,000–$95,000 | 158 |
| California | $82,000 | $61,000–$110,000 | 67 |
| Massachusetts | $49,000 | $37,000–$55,000 | 39 |
| Florida | $50,000 | $41,000–$57,000 | 25 |
| Illinois | $64,000 | $56,000–$78,000 | 24 |
| Washington, D.C. | $70,000 | $53,000–$90,000 | 24 |
| Ontario | $80,000 | $58,000–$110,000 | 15 |
| New Jersey | $88,000 | $48,000–$100,000 | 13 |
What drives the differences
- Seniority. A director typically earns 50 to 100 percent more than a coordinator in the same function. The ranges above blend every level together.
- Organization size. A large federation or national nonprofit pays more than a small local agency for the same title.
- Fundraising leverage. Roles that touch revenue — major gifts, development, senior leadership — consistently earn a premium.
- Location and cost of living. The coastal pay premium is real, but so is the coastal rent.
How to use these numbers
If you are negotiating, anchor to the function table, not the overall median — a development manager and a program coordinator live in different worlds. Find the row that matches your role, then adjust for your seniority and city. And weigh the whole package: Jewish nonprofit compensation often carries real non-salary value, from strong benefits and generous time off to Jewish holidays off and work you actually believe in.
Because every figure here comes from a live posting, the best way to check the going rate for your specific role is to look at what is open right now. Browse Jewish nonprofit jobs on Tribe Jobs — salary is shown up front on most listings, so you can see real ranges as you search.
Methodology: figures are drawn from 462 published listings on Tribe Jobs with disclosed salary ranges, as of August 2026. Each role is counted at the midpoint of its posted range; a small number of data-entry outliers were excluded, and figures are rounded to the nearest $1,000. Because these are live listings, the numbers shift as new roles are posted.