What Private Clubs Pay: GM, Chef, Superintendent and Golf Pro Compensation From 1,062 Club Filings

Ask what a country club general manager salary looks like and the answer usually comes from a survey: a few hundred respondents, self-reported, weighted toward the clubs that chose to answer. The page “Participate in the 2024 CMAA Compensation and Benefits Survey,” published by the Club Managers Association of America in 2024, describes one such survey, in which clubs choose to submit their own figures, one response per club. The Form 990 is a different instrument. The article “Social Club Q & A: Section 501(c)(7) Tax-Exempt Organizations,” published by Wagenmaker & Oberly, says social clubs with annual gross receipts of at least $200,000 or total assets of at least $500,000 must file the full Form 990, and that smaller clubs may file the shorter 990-EZ or 990-N. Part VII of that form lists what the club paid its officers, directors, key employees and highest-compensated staff, as reported to the IRS rather than to a researcher.

The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service (page updated September 2026) and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, covers 1,062 club returns for tax periods ending in 2024, with 4,120 named staff classified by role. The headline comes straight from the filings. The archive “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows a median general manager reportable compensation of $236,299. The IRS FAQ “Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements – Form 990, Part VII and Schedule J – Compensation Information,” published by the Internal Revenue Service (last updated July 2013), says reportable compensation generally means the amount in Box 5 of Form W-2 or Box 7 of Form 1099-MISC, which leaves out the employer retirement contributions and nontaxable benefits reported separately as other compensation. Size matters most at the top. The data release “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, reports a median of $479,507 at clubs with $20 million or more in revenue, about 3.5 times the median of $138,167 at clubs under $5 million.

The General Manager Market, Club by Club

General managers are the most complete part of this analysis, because most clubs list their GM on the 990 as an officer or key employee. The e-file collection “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, finds that taking one GM per club, the highest-paid person holding a general manager, COO or CEO title, gives 966 of the 1,062 clubs, about 91 percent, a usable figure.

The spread is wide. The filing series “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, records that a quarter of those GMs reported less than $163,941, a quarter reported more than $327,016, and the top tenth reported more than $446,645. The middle is crowded and the top is thin. The record set “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, indicates that 444 general managers, 46 percent of the sample, cleared $250,000, that 62 cleared $500,000, roughly one in sixteen, and that three cleared $1 million, with the highest figure at $1,515,065.

Pay looks different when measured against the club’s own revenue. The archive “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, documents a median ratio of GM reportable compensation to total club revenue of 2.81 percent, which on a club with $10 million in revenue points to about $281,000. That is a median of club-by-club ratios, so it works as a sanity check rather than a formula.

Revenue Sets the Range

Of the cuts we tested, the size of the operation separates GM pay most clearly. The data release “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that revenue band separates GM pay more sharply than state does: medians differ by about 3.5 times across the four revenue bands, against about 1.7 times between the highest and lowest of the 14 states reported. Sorted into four revenue bands, the median climbs at every step, and it climbs fastest at the top.

Median General Manager Reportable Compensation by Club Revenue Band

The e-file collection “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, reports median GM reportable compensation of $138,167 at clubs under $5 million in revenue (228 GMs), $216,103 at clubs with $5 million to $10 million (338 GMs), $304,231 at clubs with $10 million to $20 million (297 GMs) and $479,507 at clubs with $20 million or more (92 GMs).

Each step up is large. The filing series “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, finds that the median rises $77,936, a 56 percent jump, from the first band to the second, $88,128, or 41 percent, from the second to the third, and $175,276, or 58 percent, from the third to the $20 million-plus band. The bands barely overlap at the edges. The record set “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, records that the 25th percentile GM at a $20 million-plus club ($403,678) out-earns the 75th percentile GM at a $10 million to $20 million club ($373,324), and that no GM in the under-$5 million band reported more than $296,734.

The top band covers a wide range of operations. A look at five clubs shows how wide. The Nonprofit Explorer profiles “Desert Mountain Club Inc” (Arizona), “Boca West Country Club Inc” (Florida), “Olympic Club” (California), “Congressional Country Club Inc” (Maryland) and “Westchester Country Club Inc” (New York), published by ProPublica, report 2024 total revenue of $108.3 million, $84.2 million, $77.8 million, $51.7 million and $51.2 million, respectively. A board at a club near the bottom of that band, comparing itself to the band’s median, is comparing itself, in part, to operations several times its size.

Where GM Pay Runs Highest

The archive “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, indicates that among the 14 states with at least 20 general managers in the sample, California leads at a median of $298,761 across 77 clubs, with New York ($282,453, 102 clubs) and Florida ($282,265, 96 clubs) effectively tied behind it.

Median General Manager Reportable Compensation by State

Five states then cluster closely together. The data release “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, documents medians of $257,942 in Connecticut (38 clubs), $256,157 in Virginia (20 clubs), $255,861 in New Jersey (42 clubs), $253,270 in Texas (46 clubs) and $251,174 in Massachusetts (50 clubs), within about $7,000 of each other.

The bottom of the list looks very different. The e-file collection “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that Michigan’s median is $173,615, Ohio’s is $180,348 and Washington’s is $185,696, and that the gap between California and Michigan is $125,146, or about 1.7 times. State medians mix every revenue band together, so some of the geographic gap may reflect how many high-revenue clubs each state has rather than geography on its own, though this analysis does not control for revenue. A board should benchmark on revenue band first and use state as a second filter.

The Rest of the Leadership Team

One caveat governs everything in this section. The IRS page “Exempt organizations annual reporting requirements – Form 990, Part VII and Schedule J: Whose compensation must be reported in Part VII, Form 990,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, says Part VII lists all current officers, directors and trustees, up to 20 key employees with reportable compensation above $150,000, and the five highest-compensated other employees with reportable compensation above $100,000. A general manager usually makes that list. A superintendent, chef or controller makes it only when they meet the key-employee test or rank among the club’s top earners. So for every role other than GM, these medians describe the people who made the list, which is the top of each role, not the whole job market. They are biased up, and they should be read that way.

Median Reportable Compensation by Role, Staff Listed in Part VII

The filing series “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, reports median reportable compensation among listed staff of $228,335 for general managers and COOs (1,034 people, every GM-titled person, which is why it differs from the one-per-club figure), $193,760 for superintendents, $186,114 for directors of racquets or tennis, $179,077 for directors of golf or head professionals and $159,080 for executive chefs. The record set “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, finds medians of $157,846 for assistant GMs, $155,812 for CFOs or controllers, $138,878 for F&B directors, $136,551 for membership directors and $135,462 for clubhouse managers.

The superintendent leads the non-GM roles. The archive “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, records that the superintendent is the best-paid of the non-GM roles shown, at a median of $193,760 across 641 people, $14,683 ahead of the director of golf or head professional. Racquets directors sit between them. The executive chef, assistant GM and CFO or controller form a tight middle tier. F&B directors, membership directors and clubhouse managers sit lower, and each on a small base. The data release “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, indicates that only 83 membership directors and 81 clubhouse managers appear across the 1,062 returns, which says more about who makes the Part VII list than about what those jobs pay.

The top of the range is not a GM. The e-file collection “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, documents that the highest single non-GM figure, $1,116,200, belongs to a director of golf or head professional.

How Each Role Scales With Club Size

Every role shown pays more at bigger clubs, but not at the same rate. The filing series “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that the general manager’s median rises about 3.5 times from the smallest revenue band to the largest, against 2.3 times for superintendents, 2.2 times for directors of golf or head professionals, 2.0 times for executive chefs and 1.9 times for CFOs or controllers. No other role shown comes close to the GM.

Median Reportable Compensation by Role and Club Revenue Band

The record set “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, reports median superintendent reportable compensation of $130,990, $176,148, $224,606 and $296,630 across the four revenue bands, from under $5 million to $20 million and up, and median director of golf or head professional compensation of $120,000, $157,975, $189,357 and $259,297 across the same bands.

The archive “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, finds median executive chef compensation of $113,448, $138,556, $171,199 and $223,445 across the four bands, and median CFO or controller compensation of $113,002, $131,852, $161,174 and $211,865 across the same bands.

The result is a compression at small clubs and a gap at large ones. The e-file collection “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, indicates that in the under-$5 million band the median listed superintendent earns $130,990, about 95 percent of the median GM, while in the $20 million-plus band the superintendent median of $296,630 is about 62 percent of the GM median. Part of that is the sampling caveat at work: at a small club, a superintendent who makes the list may be one of the club’s few top earners. But the direction is consistent across all four non-GM roles shown. As clubs grow, the GM job may grow into something closer to a chief executive role, and the pay may follow, though the filings show the pattern and not its cause.

What This Means for Your Club

For a board benchmarking its GM contract this budget season, start with the revenue band, not the national median. A mid-sized club measured against the national median is measuring itself against a pool that includes the smallest operations. The filing series “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, documents a median of $236,299 across a pool that includes 228 clubs under $5 million, while the middle half of GMs in the $10 million to $20 million band, the peer range for a club with $15 million in revenue, reported between $256,843 and $373,324.

Compare like with like. These figures are reportable compensation from column D only. The IRS FAQ “Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements – Form 990, Part VII and Schedule J – Compensation Information,” published by the Internal Revenue Service (last updated July 2013), says reportable compensation generally matches Box 5 of Form W-2, which includes employee 401(k) deferrals, and that employer retirement contributions and nontaxable benefits are reported separately as other compensation. A contract’s total cost to the club will typically be higher than the number it is being benchmarked against, so line up the same components on both sides.

Use the median revenue share as a reasonableness check. The record set “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows a median GM pay share of 2.81 percent of revenue. A GM package well above or below that share is not wrong, but it is a number the board should be able to explain to members who read the 990. The IRS page “Public disclosure and availability of exempt organization returns and applications: Public disclosure overview,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, says an exempt organization must make its annual information return available for public inspection.

For a club professional reading their own market, treat non-GM medians as the top of the role. A superintendent, chef or golf professional at the band median here is already on the club’s Part VII list, which is limited to officers, key employees and top-paid staff. If you are not on your club’s Part VII list, these numbers likely describe jobs above yours, not your peers.

Know where the step changes are. The archive “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, reports that the biggest single move in GM pay is from the $10 million to $20 million band into the $20 million-plus band, worth $175,276, and that for superintendents the largest step is the same one, worth $72,024, from $224,606 to $296,630. These are differences between medians at different clubs, not pay changes observed for individuals who moved between them.

How We Did This

The data release “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service (page updated September 2026) and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, supplies the e-filed returns behind this analysis, from which we extracted Form 990 Part VII, Section A, for 1,062 tax-exempt clubs with tax periods ending in 2024. The article “Who Actually Runs America’s Private Clubs: A 2,272-Club Analysis of Board Filings,” published by Private Club Marketing in September 2026, draws on the same Part VII source for a broader set of 2,272 clubs.

The IRS FAQ “Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements – Form 990, Part VII and Schedule J – Compensation Information,” published by the Internal Revenue Service (last updated July 2013), says Part VII amounts are reported for the calendar year ending with or within the organization’s fiscal year. Our figures are column D, reportable compensation from the organization. Column F, other compensation including employer retirement contributions and nontaxable benefits, is excluded.

Titles on the 990 are free text, so roles were assigned by keyword. The data release “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, classified 4,120 people this way, excludes rows under $50,000 (a threshold Private Club Marketing set to screen out likely partial-year figures), uses one person per club, the highest-paid general manager, COO or CEO title, for 966 clubs with its four revenue bands covering 955 of them, and reports state medians only for states with 20 or more GMs, using the filer’s state. For every non-GM role, the sample is limited to people who appeared on Part VII, so those medians run higher than the market as a whole. Clubs owned by developers, investors or management companies are not member-owned 501(c)(7) organizations and are not represented. No individual or club-specific pay figure is published here.

Clubs hiring for any of these roles, and professionals weighing their next move, can find current openings on the PCM private club job board.

Sources

• Form 990 Series Downloads, Internal Revenue Service (e-filed returns analyzed by Private Club Marketing)
• Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements – Form 990, Part VII and Schedule J – Compensation Information, Internal Revenue Service
• Whose compensation must be reported in Part VII, Form 990, Internal Revenue Service
• Public disclosure overview, Internal Revenue Service
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profiles: Desert Mountain Club Inc, Boca West Country Club Inc, Olympic Club, Congressional Country Club Inc, Westchester Country Club Inc
• Participate in the 2024 CMAA Compensation and Benefits Survey, Club Managers Association of America
• Social Club Q & A: Section 501(c)(7) Tax-Exempt Organizations, Wagenmaker & Oberly