CFO Salary in 2027: What a Chief Financial Officer Earns

If you’re eyeing a CFO salary, there’s a catch. Federal data has no category for it. BLS puts CFOs in with financial managers, whose May 2025 median was $166,570. The top tenth of that group earned more than $323,270, so what the best CFOs make sits far above the median.

Why Is There No Exact CFO Salary in the Federal Data?

You should know how BLS counts jobs. It reports pay by occupation, and CFO is a job title, not a separate occupation. The closest match is financial managers. That group covers the people who run reporting, budgeting and cash, from a finance manager at a small firm to the chief financial officer of a large one.

So the group’s median isn’t a CFO salary. It mixes junior managers with executives, and you’d want to keep that in mind when you compare numbers. If a salary site gives you a single CFO number, check where it came from, because it may be a survey of one industry or a small sample. The BLS spread below is the full national picture for the group.

How Does Pay Climb From Bookkeeper to CFO?

The easiest way to see a CFO salary is as the last rung of a ladder. Here’s how the BLS medians from May 2025 stack up, one step at a time:

A CFO belongs to the financial managers group.

Every jump is real, but the last one is the biggest, and it’s the one you’ll feel most in your paycheck. The top tenth of that group, over $323,270, is the nearest thing BLS offers to what a finance chief makes. Move down the scale and the 75th percentile is $219,980. The 25th is $125,490.

What Does a CFO Do to Earn That?

BLS says people in this group prepare financial statements, activity reports and forecasts. They keep the company within legal requirements and supervise the staff who handle reporting and budgeting. They also look for ways to cut costs, study market trends for expansion chances, and help management make decisions.

A CFO does all of that for a whole company and answers for it to owners, lenders and a board. You’ll spend less time on the books and more on which bets the company can afford. That’s why CFO pay has the widest spread in this field. If you like strategy as much as spreadsheets, you’ll feel at home in the work.

Which States Pay the Highest CFO Salary?

For this group, New York has the top median at $219,880. Massachusetts is next at $206,760, and New Jersey has $199,110. The District of Columbia has $188,880.

Job counts show you where the market is deepest. California has 93,310 finance managers and New York has 80,810, the two biggest bases. At the other end, Arkansas has a median of $116,570 and West Virginia has $113,140.

What Is the Path to a CFO Salary?

You get there by building a track record, not by picking one particular degree. A common route runs from accountant to senior accountant, then to controller or finance manager, then CFO. Each step asks you to own more of the numbers, so you’ll want to say yes to the projects that put your name on them.

BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as typical for the group, and plenty of people add a master’s along the way. You don’t need to decide that on day one. Our guide to a master’s in accounting vs. an MBA compares the two. An accounting degree accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is a solid base for either.

How Should You Read a CFO Salary Number?

Think of CFO pay as a range of outcomes, not a price tag, and don’t plan your budget around the top number. The median is $166,570, or $80.08 an hour, and the mean is $186,910. The $323,270 at the 90th percentile is the ceiling this data shows, and it applies to only a small share of the group.

BLS also doesn’t break out things that move a chief financial officer’s pay, like company size and industry. So when you plan your career, set a floor you can live on. The 25th percentile of $125,490 is a good one, and anything above it is upside.

Does a CFO Need a CPA?

Many finance chiefs hold the license, and it shows you can sign off on statements. But it’s not the only route. Our certified public accountant (CPA) exam page covers the test, and the CPA requirements guide explains who can sit for it in your state.

Is the CFO Salary Backed by a Good Job Outlook?

You’re looking at a growing group. BLS expects financial manager employment to rise 10 percent from 2025 to 2035. That adds 84,900 jobs and creates 65,600 openings. Those are the roles where you’d build the experience a future CFO needs.

There’s one thing to keep in mind. Each company has only one CFO seat. The group is large, at 841,710 people, but the top jobs are few. You may end up as a senior manager or controller, and that pays well too. For the wider pay picture, read our financial manager salary page.