Nonprofit financial benchmarks

Median program-expense ratios, reserves and operating margins for 126 peer cohorts, computed from 334,916 Form 990 filings. Published free because comparing an organization against a national average tells you almost nothing — comparing it against its own sector and size tells you something.

Across every organization here, the median spends 85.6% of expenses on programs, holds 13.3 months of spending in net assets, and 38.4% ran a deficit in the year reported. 80.8% spend at least 65% on programs.

Every cohort

Cohorts with fewer than 30 filers are excluded — a percentile drawn from a handful of organizations is noise presented as authority. Program share is shown at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile.

Sector	Revenue	Orgs	p25	Median	p75	Reserves	Margin
Animal-Related	under $500K	4,337	81.0%	93.3%	99.2%	13.3 mo	3.1%
Animal-Related	$500K–$2M	1,962	78.4%	87.7%	95.1%	16.9 mo	8.3%
Animal-Related	$2M–$10M	750	77.0%	83.7%	89.3%	20.7 mo	9.3%
Animal-Related	$10M–$50M	202	76.3%	81.5%	86.6%	28.4 mo	10.0%
Animal-Related	over $50M	45	77.4%	84.3%	87.5%	23.9 mo	10.6%
Arts Culture & Humanities	under $500K	13,164	66.6%	83.7%	96.4%	15.6 mo	2.6%
Arts Culture & Humanities	$500K–$2M	6,160	68.2%	78.6%	88.0%	13.5 mo	3.1%
Arts Culture & Humanities	$2M–$10M	2,580	69.3%	77.6%	85.5%	22.0 mo	3.4%
Arts Culture & Humanities	$10M–$50M	680	71.4%	78.5%	85.0%	33.9 mo	7.0%
Arts Culture & Humanities	over $50M	145	73.9%	80.7%	87.0%	37.4 mo	8.9%
Civil Rights Social Action & Advocacy	under $500K	1,155	65.1%	81.0%	93.2%	8.8 mo	2.1%
Civil Rights Social Action & Advocacy	$500K–$2M	940	70.5%	80.3%	88.9%	8.7 mo	5.7%
Civil Rights Social Action & Advocacy	$2M–$10M	530	71.7%	81.3%	88.8%	11.4 mo	8.2%
Civil Rights Social Action & Advocacy	$10M–$50M	127	76.3%	83.4%	90.5%	9.6 mo	4.4%
Community Improvement & Capacity Building	under $500K	9,038	52.2%	82.9%	97.6%	14.1 mo	2.9%
Community Improvement & Capacity Building	$500K–$2M	4,563	66.4%	82.7%	93.8%	9.8 mo	5.3%
Community Improvement & Capacity Building	$2M–$10M	2,284	72.2%	83.7%	92.5%	11.1 mo	6.1%
Community Improvement & Capacity Building	$10M–$50M	579	79.4%	89.0%	94.5%	8.2 mo	3.3%
Community Improvement & Capacity Building	over $50M	112	82.6%	89.4%	97.3%	8.4 mo	3.7%
Crime & Legal-Related	under $500K	1,718	69.1%	84.4%	95.6%	10.6 mo	3.3%
Crime & Legal-Related	$500K–$2M	1,320	73.5%	83.4%	90.6%	8.5 mo	5.0%
Crime & Legal-Related	$2M–$10M	741	76.3%	83.2%	89.9%	9.1 mo	4.8%
Crime & Legal-Related	$10M–$50M	222	79.8%	86.6%	91.1%	7.0 mo	3.8%
Crime & Legal-Related	over $50M	38	86.8%	93.0%	96.2%	4.5 mo	3.0%
Education	under $500K	16,773	73.9%	90.3%	98.8%	14.8 mo	4.9%
Education	$500K–$2M	9,370	75.4%	85.7%	95.1%	9.0 mo	4.4%
Education	$2M–$10M	7,404	75.9%	83.9%	91.0%	8.9 mo	4.5%
Education	$10M–$50M	3,385	77.4%	84.0%	89.9%	10.5 mo	4.7%
Education	over $50M	1,276	80.3%	86.2%	90.3%	20.1 mo	3.2%
Employment	under $500K	1,435	55.4%	83.3%	97.2%	13.8 mo	4.6%
Employment	$500K–$2M	1,145	66.7%	82.0%	91.7%	11.3 mo	5.1%
Employment	$2M–$10M	1,002	77.5%	85.1%	91.0%	11.1 mo	4.5%
Employment	$10M–$50M	371	80.8%	86.7%	91.1%	9.3 mo	3.6%
Employment	over $50M	98	87.4%	90.9%	93.3%	7.6 mo	2.9%
Environment	under $500K	3,177	67.0%	83.5%	95.9%	22.5 mo	7.0%
Environment	$500K–$2M	2,050	70.9%	81.1%	89.6%	12.6 mo	8.1%
Environment	$2M–$10M	1,228	75.2%	81.8%	89.2%	17.2 mo	9.4%
Environment	$10M–$50M	296	77.3%	84.1%	91.2%	19.0 mo	11.3%
Environment	over $50M	50	78.5%	85.9%	92.6%	15.7 mo	3.7%
Food Agriculture & Nutrition	under $500K	1,961	73.5%	91.2%	99.3%	13.7 mo	4.8%
Food Agriculture & Nutrition	$500K–$2M	1,208	77.2%	88.2%	96.6%	10.4 mo	5.9%
Food Agriculture & Nutrition	$2M–$10M	595	81.9%	90.5%	96.7%	7.4 mo	3.0%
Food Agriculture & Nutrition	$10M–$50M	217	88.2%	94.1%	96.2%	7.3 mo	1.6%
Food Agriculture & Nutrition	over $50M	90	92.8%	95.4%	97.0%	5.3 mo	1.6%
Health Care	under $500K	5,214	67.2%	85.7%	97.8%	18.4 mo	3.6%
Health Care	$500K–$2M	3,576	73.4%	84.5%	93.8%	12.5 mo	5.1%
Health Care	$2M–$10M	3,061	75.6%	84.6%	91.7%	9.7 mo	2.9%
Health Care	over $50M	2,664	80.7%	86.6%	92.0%	6.2 mo	2.2%
Health Care	$10M–$50M	2,634	77.4%	84.6%	90.2%	6.8 mo	1.3%
Housing & Shelter	under $500K	6,912	75.0%	87.5%	96.5%	19.4 mo	-11.8%
Housing & Shelter	$500K–$2M	4,071	78.6%	88.0%	94.2%	12.2 mo	3.3%
Housing & Shelter	$2M–$10M	2,223	78.7%	86.3%	93.1%	15.2 mo	7.0%
Housing & Shelter	$10M–$50M	745	81.4%	87.3%	92.7%	9.3 mo	3.7%
Housing & Shelter	over $50M	97	84.5%	90.1%	96.3%	5.9 mo	3.2%
Human Services	under $500K	15,139	71.1%	87.6%	98.5%	10.6 mo	2.5%
Human Services	$500K–$2M	10,294	75.9%	85.2%	93.4%	8.8 mo	3.6%
Human Services	$2M–$10M	6,547	78.8%	85.4%	91.3%	9.1 mo	3.4%
Human Services	$10M–$50M	2,858	82.1%	87.1%	91.4%	7.1 mo	2.2%
Human Services	over $50M	632	85.0%	89.0%	93.6%	4.9 mo	2.3%
International Foreign Affairs & National Security	under $500K	3,139	76.8%	91.7%	98.4%	8.1 mo	0.4%
International Foreign Affairs & National Security	$500K–$2M	1,754	76.7%	86.7%	94.9%	8.1 mo	3.8%
International Foreign Affairs & National Security	$2M–$10M	888	76.7%	85.3%	92.5%	9.7 mo	2.2%
International Foreign Affairs & National Security	$10M–$50M	299	78.0%	84.4%	92.2%	8.9 mo	2.2%
International Foreign Affairs & National Security	over $50M	159	80.9%	87.8%	94.3%	6.6 mo	1.1%
Medical Research	under $500K	846	62.6%	85.3%	96.4%	20.5 mo	2.5%
Medical Research	$500K–$2M	428	72.0%	83.1%	91.9%	12.8 mo	5.8%
Medical Research	$2M–$10M	306	72.7%	81.8%	89.3%	17.3 mo	4.5%
Medical Research	$10M–$50M	119	72.8%	82.5%	90.8%	11.0 mo	2.6%
Medical Research	over $50M	53	80.5%	85.6%	90.2%	15.2 mo	2.7%
Mental Health & Crisis Intervention	under $500K	2,511	69.8%	84.9%	97.8%	7.7 mo	1.4%
Mental Health & Crisis Intervention	$500K–$2M	1,825	75.0%	84.3%	92.8%	5.7 mo	3.5%
Mental Health & Crisis Intervention	$2M–$10M	1,205	78.2%	85.5%	91.0%	6.9 mo	2.8%
Mental Health & Crisis Intervention	$10M–$50M	679	79.6%	84.4%	88.7%	6.7 mo	3.2%
Mental Health & Crisis Intervention	over $50M	166	82.1%	87.4%	90.9%	4.6 mo	2.7%
Mutual & Membership Benefit	under $500K	1,881	10.7%	87.2%	100.0%	78.6 mo	11.8%
Mutual & Membership Benefit	$500K–$2M	700	0.0%	93.3%	100.0%	42.6 mo	15.2%
Mutual & Membership Benefit	$2M–$10M	522	0.0%	89.9%	100.0%	24.4 mo	6.6%
Mutual & Membership Benefit	$10M–$50M	348	0.0%	94.8%	100.0%	11.1 mo	3.9%
Mutual & Membership Benefit	over $50M	174	0.0%	98.5%	100.0%	5.0 mo	0.9%
Philanthropy Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations	under $500K	6,594	72.3%	89.6%	98.4%	30.2 mo	4.4%
Philanthropy Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations	$500K–$2M	2,691	74.4%	86.4%	96.2%	18.6 mo	7.3%
Philanthropy Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations	$2M–$10M	1,680	78.0%	86.7%	93.8%	27.4 mo	11.5%
Philanthropy Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations	$10M–$50M	679	82.0%	88.5%	94.3%	60.3 mo	16.6%
Philanthropy Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations	over $50M	269	87.4%	94.1%	97.6%	58.5 mo	17.4%
Public & Societal Benefit	under $500K	2,629	57.9%	86.4%	98.6%	14.0 mo	3.8%
Public & Societal Benefit	$500K–$2M	1,001	70.4%	83.6%	94.0%	10.3 mo	5.8%
Public & Societal Benefit	$2M–$10M	547	73.2%	84.0%	92.4%	11.6 mo	5.1%
Public & Societal Benefit	$10M–$50M	209	74.3%	84.0%	91.7%	15.0 mo	6.5%
Public & Societal Benefit	over $50M	115	0.0%	80.5%	96.0%	17.2 mo	7.4%
Public Safety Disaster Preparedness & Relief	under $500K	4,415	80.3%	93.8%	99.7%	44.0 mo	11.6%
Public Safety Disaster Preparedness & Relief	$500K–$2M	1,323	84.7%	93.6%	98.4%	22.9 mo	12.8%
Public Safety Disaster Preparedness & Relief	$2M–$10M	342	83.4%	91.4%	96.8%	13.0 mo	8.5%
Public Safety Disaster Preparedness & Relief	$10M–$50M	52	83.3%	89.6%	94.8%	8.2 mo	3.8%
Recreation & Sports	under $500K	10,151	81.3%	95.1%	100.0%	9.0 mo	4.2%
Recreation & Sports	$500K–$2M	3,782	79.2%	91.1%	98.1%	7.9 mo	4.3%
Recreation & Sports	$2M–$10M	1,296	75.6%	84.7%	92.6%	11.7 mo	5.5%
Recreation & Sports	$10M–$50M	290	75.6%	83.8%	92.2%	18.4 mo	6.4%
Recreation & Sports	over $50M	43	83.2%	92.0%	96.0%	6.6 mo	7.8%
Religion-Related	under $500K	9,516	66.1%	89.3%	100.0%	12.4 mo	3.8%
Religion-Related	$500K–$2M	3,513	73.0%	86.5%	96.5%	10.5 mo	6.3%
Religion-Related	$2M–$10M	1,122	75.2%	85.1%	94.0%	11.7 mo	5.2%
Religion-Related	$10M–$50M	228	78.4%	85.1%	91.7%	11.8 mo	5.3%
Religion-Related	over $50M	42	80.9%	92.5%	96.4%	14.8 mo	5.8%
Science & Technology	under $500K	593	62.7%	85.5%	97.4%	16.4 mo	6.9%
Science & Technology	$500K–$2M	378	69.9%	80.6%	90.8%	10.3 mo	4.5%
Science & Technology	$2M–$10M	287	72.2%	81.9%	91.1%	11.8 mo	3.1%
Science & Technology	$10M–$50M	118	72.8%	82.4%	89.9%	17.3 mo	1.8%
Science & Technology	over $50M	74	79.0%	86.3%	92.1%	11.5 mo	3.3%
Social Science	under $500K	217	68.0%	84.8%	95.2%	14.3 mo	1.7%
Social Science	$500K–$2M	160	71.9%	81.0%	90.0%	11.5 mo	5.0%
Social Science	$2M–$10M	95	71.7%	77.4%	84.5%	12.7 mo	8.6%
Social Science	$10M–$50M	36	77.6%	86.2%	91.9%	15.5 mo	3.2%
Unknown	under $500K	1,063	72.1%	88.1%	98.4%	18.8 mo	3.1%
Unknown	$500K–$2M	589	74.2%	84.9%	93.5%	11.2 mo	5.2%
Unknown	$2M–$10M	359	78.1%	85.4%	90.3%	11.4 mo	4.1%
Unknown	$10M–$50M	122	81.0%	85.8%	90.7%	9.2 mo	4.4%
Unknown	over $50M	39	83.4%	89.4%	93.7%	5.4 mo	3.2%
Voluntary Health Associations & Medical Disciplines	under $500K	1,667	66.8%	84.4%	96.2%	15.7 mo	3.0%
Voluntary Health Associations & Medical Disciplines	$500K–$2M	921	71.4%	81.9%	90.2%	12.8 mo	5.0%
Voluntary Health Associations & Medical Disciplines	$2M–$10M	532	75.3%	83.2%	89.6%	12.2 mo	3.3%
Voluntary Health Associations & Medical Disciplines	$10M–$50M	227	79.9%	86.9%	92.1%	7.9 mo	2.3%
Voluntary Health Associations & Medical Disciplines	over $50M	83	77.1%	86.4%	92.0%	5.6 mo	1.1%
Youth Development	under $500K	3,919	70.8%	89.0%	99.0%	8.3 mo	2.7%
Youth Development	$500K–$2M	2,207	72.3%	82.4%	92.3%	8.9 mo	3.8%
Youth Development	$2M–$10M	990	74.5%	81.6%	88.0%	15.0 mo	4.2%
Youth Development	$10M–$50M	190	77.9%	82.5%	87.7%	15.7 mo	4.2%

How to use this — and how not to

These are context, not scores. In 2013 GuideStar, Charity Navigator and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance jointly published an open letter to donors denouncing the overhead ratio as a measure of nonprofit performance. A low program share can mean underinvestment in staff and systems; a high one can mean deferred maintenance. Use these to frame a question, never to rank organizations.

Form 990 data is self-reported and unaudited, and the IRS publishes it 12–18 months in arrears. These figures cover organizations filing the full Form 990 — 990-EZ filers do not report the functional-expense split these ratios require, and 990-PF private foundations have different economics.

Check a specific organization against its cohort

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