The 15 states with the most CEOs

There are 195,530 CEOs employed in the United States.
California tops the list of states with most chief executives, at a whopping 30,290 CEOs.
Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we found the 15 states with the most CEOs.
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The United States is full of CEOs – 195,530, to be exact.

Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we found which states have the highest concentration of chief executives. California topped the list by a wide margin, with 30,290 CEOs, while runner-up Florida had 20,860. Many of the Golden State’s top execs come from the tech industry, including Tim Cook (Apple) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook). Florida has a wide range of businesses, including supermarket chain Publix and cruises such as Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

According to BLS’s data, the average California CEO makes $228,270 a year, while the average Florida CEO makes a relatively smaller $187,870 a year. However, the avergae CEO of an S&P 500 company made over $1 million a month in 2018. CEO salaries have drawn criticism in recent years for being large relative to average company salary. For example, the CEO of McDonald’s earned 3,101 times what an average McDonald’s employee earned.

Some of the richest names in business didn’t make the list, though. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon is based in Washington, which is home to only 3,690 CEOs.

Here are the 15 states with the most CEOs.

Ohio has 4,420 CEOs

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 0.815

Average annual salary: $201,100

Utah has 4,850 CEOs

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 3.33

Average annual salary: $165,020

Wisconsin has 5,240 CEOs

Foto: Jonas Prising, CEO of ManpowerGroup.sourcePier Marco Tacca/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 1.841

Average annual salary: $154,820

Texas has 5,260 CEOs

Foto: Ben van Beurden, CEO of Shell.sourceMikhail Klimentyev/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 0.434

Average annual salary: $239,680

Virginia has 5,760 CEOs

Foto: Christopher J. Nassetta, CEO of Hilton Hotels.sourceAFP/Stringer/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 1.502

Average annual salary: $228,540

Minnesota has 5,970 CEOs

Foto: Hubert Joly, CEO of Best Buy.sourceNeilson Barnard/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 2.083

Average annual salary: $195,320

Georgia has 6,260 CEOs

Foto: Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines.sourceJustin Sullivan/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 1.424

Average annual salary: $218,590

Pennsylvania has 6,540 CEOs

Foto: Brian L. Roberts, CEO of Comcast.sourceEthan Miller/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 1.118

Average annual salary: $231,120

Arizona has 6,630 CEOs

Foto: William Amelio, CEO of Avnet.sourceRoslan Rahman/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 2.375

Average annual salary: $194,360

Tennessee has 6,680 CEOs

Foto: Greg Sandfort, CEO of Tractor Supply Company.sourceJoshua Roberts/Reuters

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 2.259

Average annual salary: $152,730

Massachusetts has 7,990 CEOs

Foto: Sheila Marcelo, CEO of Care.com.sourceCare.com

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 2.236

Average annual salary: $221,810

Illinois has 9,650 CEOs

Foto: Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of Boeing.sourceJim Young-Pool/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 1.611

Average annual salary: $230,070

New York has 10,430 CEOs

Foto: Stephen Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal.sourceVirginia Sherwood/NBCUniversal

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 1.111

Average annual salary: $220,040

Florida has 20,860 CEOs

Foto: Robert Kraft, CEO of the Kraft Group.sourceMichael Dwyer/AP

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 2.423

Average annual salary: $187,870

California has 30,290 CEOs

Foto: Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.sourceJustin Sullivan/Getty Images

CEOs per 1,000 jobs: 1.781

Average annual salary: $228,270