In 2019, U.S. risk management professionals saw a 3.8% average increase in their base salary over the previous year, while their Canadian counterparts received a 3.6% raise, according to the biannual 2019 RIMS Risk Management Compensation Survey. Compared to 2017 results, however, these salaries were 1.7% lower in the United States and 4.3% lower in Canada. Overall, the median base salary for risk professionals was $118,000 in the United States and $101,000 in Canada. Education, experience and supervisory responsibility were key factors in salary differences. In the United States, risk managers with degrees higher than a Bachelor’s degree earned about $13,700 more than those with only a Bachelor’s.
Risk managers with at least 25 years of experience made $62,300 more than those with less than five years on the job, while those who supervised 20 or more people earned twice as much as those who did not supervise others. Men earned 14% more on average than women, but male respondents also tended to have more education, experience and supervisory responsibility. Chief risk officers and vice presidents of risk management were the highest-paid, with a median base salary of $198,900, while at the other end of the spectrum, insurance analysts made about $79,000.