How much do non-profit hospitals make?

Generally not on their income. Non-profit hospitals are exempt from federal income tax and usually from state and local property and sales taxes, and donors can deduct gifts to them. In return they are expected to benefit their communities, for example through charity care, and they must file a public Form 990 with the IRS every year showing their revenue, spending and executive pay.

The 1,760 non-profit hospital organizations listed here reported $790.3 billion in combined revenue on their latest Form 990, and a combined surplus of $32.5 billion (revenue minus expenses). 1,144 took in more than they spent and 616 spent more than they took in. The typical (median) organization kept 2.9% of its revenue.

By revenue on its latest Form 990, the largest is Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (Walnut Creek, CA), with $32.8 billion in revenue and 33 hospitals with a page on this site under the same filing. It is followed by The New York and Presbyterian Hospital ($10.3 billion) and Dignity Health ($9.9 billion). Many large systems file several returns, so one organization's filing may not cover the whole system.

It is the total compensation the organization reported for all of its current officers, directors, trustees and key employees together, not the pay of one person. It typically includes salary, bonuses and other reportable pay. Pay for each named executive is listed in the full filing (Part VII and Schedule J). The median total here is $1.3 million per organization.

From the IRS: the Exempt Organizations Business Master File and the annual Form 990 data extracts published by the IRS Statistics of Income division. We match each organization to hospitals by legal name and address. Figures are as filed for the organization's latest available tax year and are not audited by us. For-profit and government hospitals don't file a Form 990, so they are not included.