What Chief Executives earn in Suffolk County, NY
The median pay for Chief Executives in Suffolk County, NY is $301,440 per year, which works out to $144.92 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area, the labor market that Suffolk County, NY belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $392,410, which is 30.2% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 7,180 people working in this occupation across the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Suffolk County, NY has roughly 1,530,146 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Chief Executives in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $164,740 a year ($79.20 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $709,670 or more ($341.19 an hour). That is a gap of $544,930 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $208,320 at the 25th percentile and $462,490 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 4.3 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Chief Executives in Suffolk County, NY is $144.92. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $301,440, and the same salary is $25,120 a month before taxes or about $11,594 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $95.19 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Chief Executives
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Chief Executives this way: "Determine and formulate policies and provide overall direction of companies or private and public sector organizations within guidelines set up by a board of directors or similar governing body. Plan, direct, or coordinate operational activities at the highest level of management with the help of subordinate executives and staff managers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Direct or coordinate an organization's financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency"; "Confer with board members, organization officials, or staff members to discuss issues, coordinate activities, or resolve problems"; "Analyze operations to evaluate performance of a company or its staff in meeting objectives or to determine areas of potential cost reduction, program improvement, or policy change"; "Direct, plan, or implement policies, objectives, or activities of organizations or businesses to ensure continuing operations, to maximize returns on investments, or to increase productivity".
Job outlook for Chief Executives
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 291,600 jobs in 2025 to 300,900 in 2035, a change of +3.2%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 19,100 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 6.6% of current employment each year. About 26.6% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. Work experience in a related occupation: 5 years or more. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $213,990 for this occupation; the Suffolk County, NY median of $301,440 is 40.9% above it.
How pay in Suffolk County, NY compares
Compared with the New York average
Suffolk County, NY pays above the state benchmark. The New York employment-weighted average for Chief Executives is $274,904; the local median of $301,440 beats it by $26,536, or 9.7%. Within New York, Suffolk County, NY already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Chief Executives is $225,648 across the contiguous United States. At $301,440, Suffolk County, NY pays $75,792 more, which is 33.6% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Suffolk County, NY
Among the 671 occupations with published wages in Suffolk County, NY, Chief Executives ranks number 11 by median pay, ahead of about 99% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Anesthesiologists at $460,800 a year, which is $159,360 more than the median for Chief Executives.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $301,440 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $103,442 a year, which leaves $197,998, or $16,500 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $34 goes to taxes and $66 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 34.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $285,690. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 35% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $69,539, an effective 23.1% of gross pay, well below the 35% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $10,918 on this salary, the maximum for the year because pay exceeds the cap. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $5,284, plus an additional 0.9% on wages above $200,000. FICA totals $16,202, which is 5.4% of gross pay.
State income tax in New York
New York income tax on this salary is $17,701 a year, or 5.9% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 25% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $1,475 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Suffolk County, NY
IRS Statistics of Income data for Suffolk County, NY show an average adjusted gross income of $115,576 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 16.4% across all filers. Filers in the $200,000 or more bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 22.7%, compared with the 23.1% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Suffolk County, NY
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Suffolk County, NY: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $197,998 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Suffolk County, NY is $2,285 a month, or $27,420 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,689 a month. For Chief Executives, a one-bedroom absorbs 13.8% of take-home pay and 9.1% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 1.1% of gross pay for Chief Executives in Suffolk County, NY. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New York residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,581 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $653, for $3,235 in total. Gasoline in New York averages $3.17 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,467.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $35,557 a year, 18% of take-home pay. That leaves $162,441 a year, or $13,537 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 53.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Suffolk County, NY
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Suffolk County, NY: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Suffolk County, NY, set beside the New York and national medians.
Property taxes in Suffolk County, NY
Homeowners in Suffolk County, NY pay a median of $10,001 a year in real estate taxes, 52% above the New York median of $6,582 and 221% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $578,400, the median tax bill is 1.73% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Chief Executives median of $301,440, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.3% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Suffolk County, NY
Renters in Suffolk County, NY pay a median gross rent of $2,255 a month in the Census survey, 39% above the New York median of $1,621. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,285 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $578,400, 36% above the New York median of $423,800. Median household income is $130,686, 52% above the New York median of $85,974, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.0% of that income.
Commuting in Suffolk County, NY
Workers in Suffolk County, NY who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.1 minutes each way, 5% below the New York average of 32.6. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.2 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 12.0% of workers in Suffolk County, NY work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Chief Executives afford to live in Suffolk County, NY?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $301,440 that ceiling is $7,536 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,285 is $5,251 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $43.94 an hour; the median for Chief Executives is $144.92, which is 230% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $95.19 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 5.5 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,689 a month means $1,345 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,286 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $173,727.
How fast you can save
At $13,537 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 1 month. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 2 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Chief Executives pay in Suffolk County, NY
What is the hourly wage for Chief Executives in Suffolk County, NY?
The median is $144.92 per hour, based on $301,440 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $79.20 at the 10th percentile to $341.19 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Chief Executives in Suffolk County, NY?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $301,440 becomes $197,998 a year. That is $16,500 a month, $7,615 every two weeks or $3,808 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Chief Executives in Suffolk County, NY?
Total taxes are $103,442 a year, an effective rate of 34.3%: $69,539 federal income tax, $16,202 FICA and $17,701 New York income tax.
Is pay for Chief Executives in Suffolk County, NY above the New York average?
Yes. The local median of $301,440 is +9.7% versus the New York average of $274,904, a difference of $26,536 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Chief Executives salary in Suffolk County, NY?
A one-bedroom costs $2,285 a month against take-home pay of $16,500, which is 13.8% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $7,536 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Chief Executives in Suffolk County, NY?
About $13,537 a month ($162,441 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $35,557 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Suffolk County, NY at the 30% guideline?
$43.94 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $27,420 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Chief Executives is $144.92.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the New York rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.