Risk management statistics show a profession with substantial compensation variation by role, geography, experience, and education. The available RIMS figures also point to a workforce preparing for broader responsibilities: 94% of respondents said new skills would need to be developed for business challenges by 2025, while only 32% of executives surveyed said their teams were prepared for future challenges. The compensation figures below are from the RIMS 2021 Compensation Survey, measured as of September 1, 2021 or over the preceding 12 months. The talent figures come from the RIMS Risk Management Talent 2025 Report. These are existing research findings and are not independently re-verified here.
Contents
- Compensation at a glance
- U.S. compensation by role
- Canadian compensation by role
- Other cash compensation
- Benefits and paid time off
- Talent readiness and future skills
- How organizations value risk management
Compensation at a glance
The RIMS 2021 Compensation Survey reported a median annual base salary of $135,000 for U.S. risk management professionals as of September 1, 2021. The comparable Canadian median was $120,000 CAD. These are broad professional medians, so they do not describe a single job level or make a currency-adjusted comparison.
Leadership roles were reported at higher medians in both geographies. U.S. Chief Risk Officers and Vice Presidents of Risk Management had a median annual base salary of $215,000, while the Canadian median for the same group was $180,000 CAD. U.S. Directors of Enterprise Risk Management had a median of $150,000; Canadian directors in that category had a median of $136,400 CAD.
The survey also separated insurance leadership from enterprise risk leadership. U.S. Directors of Insurance and Risk Management had a median annual base salary of $155,000. The Canadian median for that role was $150,000 CAD. Role definitions and local currencies should be kept in view when comparing these figures.
| Survey group | United States | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| All risk management professionals | $135,000 | $120,000 CAD |
| Chief Risk Officer/Vice President of Risk Management | $215,000 | $180,000 CAD |
| Director of Enterprise Risk Management | $150,000 | $136,400 CAD |
| Director of Insurance and Risk Management | $155,000 | $150,000 CAD |
Source: RIMS 2021 Compensation Survey. Figures are median annual base salaries as of September 1, 2021.
U.S. compensation by role
The U.S. results show a clear spread among individual-contributor and specialist categories. Risk Managers focused on Claims had a median annual base salary of $96,000. Risk Managers in Enterprise Risk Management had a median of $114,000, and Risk Managers in Insurance had a median of $117,500.
The survey reported a median annual base salary of $85,000 for U.S. Risk Management Analysts in Insurance. Within the listed U.S. roles, that was the lowest reported base-salary figure, while the $215,000 median for Chief Risk Officers and Vice Presidents of Risk Management was the highest. Those figures describe different job categories and should not be treated as a career progression for every professional.
The U.S. role-level figures were:
- Chief Risk Officers/Vice Presidents of Risk Management: $215,000 median annual base salary.
- Directors of Insurance and Risk Management: $155,000.
- Directors of Enterprise Risk Management: $150,000.
- Risk Managers: Insurance: $117,500.
- Risk Managers: ERM: $114,000.
- Risk Managers: Claims: $96,000.
- Risk Management Analysts: Insurance: $85,000.
All figures in this section come from the RIMS 2021 Compensation Survey and refer to U.S. respondents as of September 1, 2021.
Canadian compensation by role
Canadian role-level results also varied substantially. The median annual base salary for Canadian Risk Managers: Claims was $120,000 CAD. Risk Managers: ERM had a median of $116,500 CAD, while Risk Managers: Insurance had a median of $88,500 CAD.
At the director level, Directors of Insurance and Risk Management had a median annual base salary of $150,000 CAD. Directors of Enterprise Risk Management had a median of $136,400 CAD. The reported median for Canadian Chief Risk Officers and Vice Presidents of Risk Management was $180,000 CAD.
These Canadian figures provide a role-by-role view alongside the $120,000 CAD median for Canadian risk management professionals overall. They are reported in Canadian dollars and come from the same September 1, 2021 compensation-survey reference point.
Other cash compensation
Base salary was only one part of the compensation picture. In the 12 months before September 1, 2021, U.S. risk professionals had median total other cash compensation of $10,000. This total counted all respondents rather than only respondents eligible for a particular form of payment. The Canadian median was $5,000 CAD under the same all-respondent approach.
The education breakdown did not move in a simple direction. In the United States, median other cash compensation was $20,400 for professionals with more than a bachelor’s degree, $25,000 for professionals with a bachelor’s degree, and $21,000 for professionals with less than a bachelor’s degree. In Canada, the corresponding medians were $15,000 CAD, $30,000 CAD, and $14,500 CAD.
Experience groups also showed different reported medians. U.S. professionals with 25 or more years in risk management had median other cash compensation of $12,000; those with 15–24 years had $33,300; those with 5–14 years had $22,000; and those with less than five years had $15,000. The Canadian figures were $13,800 CAD, $30,000 CAD, $17,800 CAD, and $10,000 CAD, respectively.
The reported gender-group medians were $7,900 for male U.S. risk professionals and $25,000 for female U.S. risk professionals. In Canada, the reported medians were $6,800 CAD for male risk professionals and $25,000 CAD for female risk professionals. These figures are subgroup medians from the survey, not adjusted pay-gap estimates.
Among U.S. risk professionals who received cash compensation during the period, 76% received it as bonuses, 12% as profit sharing, 8% as incentive pay, and 15% in some other form. The percentages describe payment forms and can overlap. Looking at the average composition of other cash compensation, 77% was delivered as bonuses, 8% as profit sharing, 6% as incentive pay, 1% as commission, and 8% as other pay.
Benefits and paid time off
The RIMS 2021 Compensation Survey also measured selected benefits. In the United States, 60% of risk professionals were offered a Preferred Provider Organization as their primary medical coverage, and 20% were offered a Health Savings Account as their primary medical coverage. A defined contribution retirement plan was offered to 79%. Four weeks was the typical amount of paid time off.
The Canadian benefit pattern used different healthcare terminology. Supplemental coverage to Canadian healthcare was the primary medical coverage offered to 65% of Canadian risk professionals. A defined benefit retirement plan was offered to 44%, and five weeks was the typical amount of paid time off.
| Benefit or time-off measure | United States | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Primary medical coverage measure | 60% PPO | 65% supplemental coverage |
| Retirement-plan measure | 79% defined contribution | 44% defined benefit |
| Typical paid time off | 4 weeks | 5 weeks |
Source: RIMS 2021 Compensation Survey. The healthcare and retirement categories are not identical across the two countries.
Talent readiness and future skills
The RIMS Risk Management Talent 2025 Report focused on workforce readiness and the capabilities needed for changing business conditions. Only 32% of executives surveyed believed their risk management teams were prepared to meet future challenges. At the same time, 94% of respondents agreed that new skills would need to be developed to meet business challenges by 2025.
The education pipeline was another area of concern. Sixteen percent of respondents agreed there would be a sufficient number of risk management graduates to meet 2025 demand. Ninety-two percent agreed universities must substantially alter their curricula to meet future risk management challenges. The report also found that 92% considered a diversity of perspectives vital to risk management decision-making both at the time of the survey and by 2025.
The expected scope of risk work extended beyond a dedicated risk department. Seventy-eight percent of risk management professionals anticipated that IT and supply chain functions would also incorporate risk goals within five years. This expectation places risk-related objectives within operational functions as well as within formal risk teams.
How organizations value risk management
Perceptions of organizational value differed by respondent group. Eighty-seven percent of executive leaders agreed that the risk management function was highly valued within their organizations. Among risk professionals, 78% agreed that their functions were highly valued. Yet only 46% of risk professionals believed leaders outside the function saw risk management as vital to company growth.
Experience was associated with different reported views of organizational value. Eighty-one percent of risk professionals with 11–20 years of experience agreed that their function was valued, compared with 84% of those with 20 or more years of experience. These are reported agreement rates, not measures of financial performance or causal effects.
Taken together, the RIMS Risk Management Talent 2025 Report presents a mixed readiness picture: risk management was widely described as valuable, but fewer respondents saw the function as connected to company growth, and only a minority of executives considered their teams prepared for future challenges. The same report paired that readiness gap with strong support for new skills, broader risk ownership in IT and supply chain, more diverse perspectives, and substantially changed university curricula.
All talent figures in the final sections are attributed to the RIMS Risk Management Talent 2025 Report. The compensation, benefits, and paid-time-off figures are attributed to the RIMS 2021 Compensation Survey, with its September 1, 2021 measurement date and 12-month cash-compensation reference period preserved above.