EdFuel’s National Compensation and Benefits Study
EdFuel's National Compensation and Benefits Study gives education and nonprofit organizations access to peer-based, sector-specific data to inform compensation, benefits, and staffing decisions. The 2025 study was our biggest yet, reaching over 270 participating organizations across 35+ states, and helping leaders make more strategic, sustainable talent investments.
Why This Study Matters
Education and nonprofit organizations are navigating increasing financial pressure while continuing to compete for limited talent. Our compensation and benefits benchmarking study helps organizations compare salaries, benefits, and staffing structures against peer organizations to support more informed and competitive decision-making.
High-stakes compensation decisions are often made without reliable, comparable data. The National Compensation and Benefits Study changes that, giving organizations a clear, sector-specific foundation to benchmark salaries, review pay structures, and make competitive talent decisions with confidence.
Participating organizations use the study to benchmark salaries and benefits against peers, adjust salary scales and pay bands, review compensation policies, support board discussions, and assess their competitiveness in recruitment and staff retention, turning data into clear, actionable decisions.
What You’ll Receive
Participating organizations gain access to tools and insights designed to support both immediate decision-making and long-term strategy.
- Confidential, customized benchmarking report comparing your staffing, compensation, and benefits to peer organizations, including role-level data and percentile benchmarks
- Interactive data dashboard with flexible filters to explore compensation and benefits trends across the sector
- National, regional, and city-level (where available) salary and benefits benchmarks
- Comprehensive sector report highlighting key trends
Participants consistently point to peer comparisons, flexible filters, role-level data, benefits benchmarking, and percentile benchmarks as the most valuable features of the study.
These resources allow leaders to ground decisions in credible, sector-specific data, rather than anecdotes or generalized benchmarks.
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Built on Proven Experience
The National Compensation and Benefits Study builds on nearly a decade of EdFuel’s experience conducting studies across the charter school sector.
The 2025 National Charter School Compensation and Benefits Study was our largest to date:
- 273 participating organizations (more than double the 2021 study count)
- 35+ states represented
- Diverse organizational types and labor markets
- 100+ standardized roles across functions
“We have been able to identify key, high-impact areas where we need to make adjustments, with clear rationale. We have been able to leverage this data to inform and invest decision makers, and will continue to share rationale rooted in data with the network as to why some changes are being made while others are not.”
—2025 EdFuel National Compensation and Benefits Study & Charter School Leader
This study is conducted in partnership with education support organizations across the country.
FAQs
What is compensation and benefits benchmarking?
Compensation and benefits benchmarking is the process of comparing your organization’s salaries, benefits, and staffing structures to those of similar organizations, usually based on your number of full-time employees or your annual operating budget. It helps leaders understand how competitive their offerings are, identify gaps or inconsistencies, and make more informed decisions about pay, benefits, and workforce strategy.
What is the National Compensation and Benefits Study?
The National Compensation and Benefits Study is an EdFuel-led benchmarking initiative that examines compensation, benefits, and staffing practices across participating charter school organizations nationwide. The study provides both organization-specific insights and aggregate sector trends to support more informed and strategic decision-making. In 2025, the study reached its largest scale to date, with 91% of participants reporting overall satisfaction and 89% saying the data was valuable in informing their compensation decisions.
What do participating organizations receive?
Each participating organization receives a confidential, customized benchmarking report comparing their staffing, compensation, and benefits to relevant peer organizations. Participants also gain access to an interactive online dashboard to explore and analyze the data, along with a broader sector report highlighting key trends.
What roles are included?
Studies typically include both school-based and non-school-based roles, such as teaching, school leadership, and support staff, as well as a broad range of roles across functional areas, including programmatic, finance, talent and HR, executive leadership, operations, service delivery, and custodial roles. Final role scope is informed by participant interest and feasibility.
What data will we need to provide?
Organizations are asked to share salary data (and incentives or bonuses where applicable), role and organizational context (such as size and location), and information about benefits offerings. Benefits may include health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off, and other non-salary offerings.
How is our data kept confidential?
All data is collected through secure, password-protected systems and is only accessible to authorized EdFuel staff and designated participants. Data is reported in aggregate, and no information is shared publicly in a way that could identify individual organizations. Minimum reporting thresholds are used to further ensure confidentiality and legal compliance.
Does EdFuel conduct national studies only for charter schools?
No. While EdFuel’s national studies have historically focused on charter school organizations, starting in 2026, we are expanding to include studies for nonprofit organizations. This allows a broader set of mission-driven organizations to access relevant benchmarking data on compensation, benefits, and staffing practices. Email us at info@edfuel.org if you’re interested in participating!
Does EdFuel offer one-off benchmarking support outside of national studies?
Yes. EdFuel offers customized benchmarking support for organizations that need more targeted analysis outside of the national study cycle. This may include role-specific benchmarking, compensation reviews, or tailored analysis to support immediate and ongoing decision-making.
Plan Ahead for the 2027 National Charter School Compensation and Benefits Study
The next National Charter School Compensation and Benefits Study launches in spring 2027. Participating organizations gain access to the data and insights needed to make more confident and strategic decisions about compensation, benefits, and staffing.
