Interactive Data Visualization
CEO vs Worker Pay
The average S&P 500 CEO made 344x their median worker in 2024. Enter your salary and see how you compare.
US median household income: ~$75,000 | US median individual: ~$40,500
Average S&P 500 ratio
344:1
CEO to worker
Highest on this list
1,977:1
Broadcom
In 1965 the ratio was
21:1
Post-war era
CEO pay growth since '78
1,460%
vs 18% for workers
Choose a CEO
How Fast Does a CEO Earn Your Salary?
Live Earning Simulation
The Pay Scale
Scroll right to see the full bar →
If your pay is 1 inch on screen, Tim Cook's pay is 91 feet.
That's 1050x your salary in a single year.
2024 CEO Pay Ratio Rankings
| # | CEO | Total Comp | Ratio | Time to Earn Your Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hock TanBroadcom | $162M | 1,977:1 | 3h 14m |
| 2 | Sundar PichaiAlphabet | $226M | 1,284:1 | 2h 19m |
| 3 | Bob IgerDisney | $41M | 1,025:1 | 12h 49m |
| 4 | Doug McMillonWalmart | $27M | 964:1 | 19h 28m |
| 5 | Tim CookApple | $63M | 940:1 | 8h 20m |
| 6 | Andy JassyAmazon | $29M | 791:1 | 18h 8m |
| 7 | Satya NadellaMicrosoft | $79M | 745:1 | 6h 39m |
| 8 | David ZaslavWarner Bros | $39M | 684:1 | 13h 29m |
| 9 | Brian MoynihanBank of America | $29M | 674:1 | 18h 8m |
| 10 | Jamie DimonJPMorgan | $36M | 643:1 | 14h 36m |
Source: 2024/2025 SEC proxy statement filings (DEF 14A). Total compensation includes salary, stock awards, options, and all other compensation.
How Long to Earn What a CEO Makes?
At your salary of $60,000, it would take you
to earn what Tim Cook makes in ONE year.
That's from 976 to 2026
You'd have started working in the 970s.
Each bar = 1 year of your work
The Historical Context
CEO-to-worker pay ratios weren't always this extreme. Here's how the ratio has exploded since the mid-1960s.
Key takeaway: The ratio was relatively stable at 20-30:1 for decades. Stock option grants in the 1980s and 1990s changed everything. The 2000 dot-com peak hit 376:1. After briefly declining post-2008, it's settled around 340-350:1.
What If You Got a CEO Raise?
Since 1978, CEO compensation has grown 1,460%. Typical worker compensation has grown 18%. What would your salary look like if you got the CEO treatment?
If you got a CEO raise
CEO pay grew 1,460% since 1978
Your salary today
Reality: Worker raise
Worker pay grew 18% since 1978
Your salary today
The gap: $865,200 per year.
Adjusted for inflation, typical worker wages have barely budged since the late 1970s.
The Math of Inequality Is Weird
The McDonald's Example
CEO Pay
$20M
Chris Kempczinski
Median Crew
$28K
US employees
Ratio
714:1
2024 proxy
The thought experiment: If the CEO donated their entire $20M salary and split it among all 200,000 US McDonald's employees...
$100
raise per employee, per year.
That's... not as much as you'd think. The math of inequality is weird. The CEO's pay is outrageous relative to ONE worker, but divided among hundreds of thousands, it barely registers. The real issue isn't one CEO's salary — it's the entire structure of how value gets distributed.
Mind-Blowing Comparisons
How much does Tim Cook earn during everyday activities? These numbers use their total annual compensation of $63M, compared to your salary of $60,000.
During a 1-hour meeting
1050 hours of your work
$30,288
Tim Cook earns
During a lunch break (30 min)
65.6 of your workdays
$15,144
Tim Cook earns
While you sleep (8 hours)
11.5 months of your salary
$57,495
Tim Cook earns
During a 2-week vacation
40.2x your annual salary
$2,414,784
Tim Cook earns
Time to sneeze (~3 seconds)
$25
$25
Tim Cook earns
While you read this page (~5 min)
88 hours of your work
$2,524
Tim Cook earns
A Day in Two Lives
Scrub through a 24-hour day and watch the earnings diverge in real time. CEO compensation accrues around the clock (including stock appreciation); your paycheck only ticks during work hours.
Drag the slider through a day
By 8:00 AM, Tim Cook has earned 57495x what you have. (You haven't started work yet, but the CEO's comp accrues 24/7.)
How Fast Can Tim Cook Buy...
Major life purchases most people save for years to afford. Here's how long they take at Tim Cook's pay rate.
Honda Civic
$28,000
3.9 hrs
for Tim Cook
4-year state college tuition
$104,000
14.5 hrs
for Tim Cook
Median US home
$420,000
2.4 days
for Tim Cook
Tesla Model 3
$40,000
5.6 hrs
for Tim Cook
Average wedding
$35,000
4.9 hrs
for Tim Cook
Year of daycare
$15,000
2.1 hrs
for Tim Cook
Share Your Results
My salary of $60,000 takes Tim Cook (Apple) just 8h 20m to earn. It would take me 1,050 years to earn their annual pay. See how your salary compares: https://glenbradford.com/ceo-vs-worker-pay
What Can Actually Be Done?
The CEO-to-worker pay gap is a complex issue without easy solutions. Here are the main policy levers that economists and policymakers discuss — presented as facts, not advocacy.
Tax Policy
Section 162(m) of the tax code limits the deductibility of executive compensation above $1M unless it is "performance-based." The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 closed some loopholes but CEO pay has continued to rise. Proposals include higher marginal tax rates on compensation above certain thresholds and excise taxes on companies with high pay ratios.
Shareholder Activism
Since 2011, publicly traded companies must hold "Say on Pay" advisory votes. These are non-binding but send strong signals. In 2024, several companies saw significant shareholder dissent on executive compensation packages. Large institutional investors like BlackRock and Vanguard are increasingly voting against excessive pay packages.
Unionization
Countries with higher union density tend to have lower CEO-to-worker pay ratios. The U.S. private-sector union membership rate is about 6% (down from 35% in the 1950s). Union workers earn roughly 10-20% more than non-union workers in comparable roles, and unions often negotiate for pay transparency and ratio caps.
Disclosure & Transparency
The SEC pay ratio disclosure rule (effective 2018) was designed to give shareholders and the public more information. Research suggests that disclosure alone has not reduced pay ratios, but it has increased public awareness and media scrutiny. Some states and cities have proposed linking tax rates or government contract eligibility to pay ratios.
Glen's Take
I ran a hedge fund for years. I've read thousands of proxy statements. I've voted on executive compensation packages as a shareholder. Now I'm a worker-bee Salesforce developer. I've been on both sides of this.
Here's what I think most people get wrong: the outrage is valid, but the framing is off. CEO pay isn't high because some evil board decided to underpay everyone else. It's high because of a self-reinforcing system — compensation consultants benchmark against peers, boards compete to attract "top talent," stock grants compound with rising markets, and nobody wants to be the company paying below-median for a CEO.
The McDonald's math above is the uncomfortable truth: redistributing CEO pay doesn't fix much for individual workers. The real question is why median wages have stagnated while productivity and profits have soared. That's a structural problem, not a CEO problem.
As a shareholder activist, I always voted against excessive pay packages. As a developer, I negotiate my own comp as aggressively as I can. The data is the data. What you do with it is up to you.
— Glen Bradford, former hedge fund manager, current worker bee
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