The base salaries, bonuses/incentives and total compensation continue to increase for credit union CEOs, and the average CEO now makes more than $250,000 a year, according to the CUES 2013 Executive Compensation Survey.

The survey shows the average increase in base salary for credit union CEOs was 6.43%, compared to 6.43% in 2012 and 4.37% in 2011. The largest average base salary increase was 9.41% for CEOs who work at credit unions with $600 million to $999 million in assets.

That number is actually down slightly from the $260,807 that CUES reported as the average salary in its 2012 survey.

The survey showed the average increase in the credit union CEO base salary plus bonus/incentive was 8.40%, compared to 5.93% in 2012 and 5.01% in 2011. CEOs in the $600 million to $999 million asset size group had the largest average increase in salary plus bonus/incentive paid at 13.07%.

The average increase in CEO total compensation was 8.18% compared to 5.83% in 2012 and 5.07% in 2011. And again, CEOs in the $600 to $999 million asset size had the largest average increase in total compensation at 13.55%.

Other key findings of the survey include:

• Average base salary plus bonus compensation for CEOs ranged from $85,366 for credit unions with assets less than $30 million to $552,318 for credit unions with assets greater than $1 billion.

• The average CEO total compensation for all credit unions reported was $256,339.

• Non-CEO executive compensation increases in total compensation ranged from 4.75% to 9.26% for repeat survey participants. The greatest percentage change was reported for the Branch / Member Services Executive at 9.26%. Sixty-one percent of the credit unions that participated in the 2013 survey also participated in the 2012 survey.

• The top factors for determining CEO bonus/incentive awards remain the same as the last few years with earnings, board evaluation and loan growth rounding out the top three factors.

The survey also showed credit unions with $250 million assets or more tend to pay their CEOs higher in median base salary than CEOs at banks with $250 million in assets or more, according to the survey.

For example, the median base salary for a CEO at credit union with $250 million to $499 million in assets is paid an average of $236,125. For bank CEOs the median base salary is $221,053.

For a CEO at a credit union with $500 million to $999 million in assets the median base salary is $325,000. For a bank CEO the median base salary is $275,206, the survey shows. And for a CEO at a credit union with $1 billion or more in assets, the median base salary is $449,948. For a bank CEO, the median base salary is $383,750.

Nearly 60% of credit union CEOs has been serving in their position for five to 20 years, while nearly 24% of credit union CEOs has been working in their position for more than 20 years.

The survey's findings were based on the responses from 443 CUES member and non-member credit unions. Corporate credit unions were not surveyed or included in the results.

For an executive summary of the 2013 CUES Executive Compensation Survey, visit cues.org/ECS and click on the blue button at the top of the page. CUES also will host a webinar about the survey on Aug. 8. To register, visit cues.org/Webinar.