There's a gap between the average base salary and bonus figures for male and female credit union CEOs, according to the preliminary findings of Executive Compensation Solutions' 2011 employee and executive compensation survey.
"We are seeing that there is a high potential for women to reach executive-level positions at credit unions," said Adam Zelinsky, director of operations for the Covina, Calif.-based compensation and benefits consulting firm.
The average salary for a male credit union CEO is $234,000 per year, while female credit union CEOs earn an average of $192,000 annually, Zelinsky said.
Men who hold CU CEO positions receive an average bonus of $28,000; the average bonus for women in the same position is $13,000, according to ECS.
"If more women held executive-level positions at credit unions, that could lead to an increase in their average base salary and bonus," Zelinsky hypothesized.
The 2011 ECS survey, which will be available in its entirety in November, is based on questionnaire responses from more than 200 CEOs of credit unions with $50 million or more in assets.
CUES recently announced the results of its 2011 Executive Compensation Survey, which indicated an upswing in credit union executive compensation across the board.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
