The 2016 AASA Superintendent Salary & Benefits Study marks the fifth edition of this study. This survey tracks the demographics, salary, benefits, and other elements of the employment contracts of school superintendents throughout the country. This year's study is based on 1,392 responses (15 percent response rate). The survey was distributed online and relied on superintendents to respond to 47 items with the understanding that report of findings would contain no personally identifiable information. Consequently, data must be considered descriptive and not necessarily representative of all superintendents. However, the report is rich with information and serves as a useful snapshot of the salary and benefits of superintendents for the 2016-17 school year. This year, as in the past four years, more than 90 percent of respondents reported that they served in suburban and rural districts with nearly 70 percent of respondents self-reported serving in rural districts. This is generally representative of the distribution of school districts nationwide. Consistent with findings of the previous years, male respondents outnumbered females by a four-to-one ratio. Respondents were also overwhelmingly White (non Hispanic). Female respondents also tended to be somewhat older than their male counterparts. The average and median age of all respondents was 52. The median salary distributed by district enrollment ranged from just $90,000 for the smallest districts to nearly $230,000 for superintendents serving in the largest enrollment school districts. Overall, the median salary was $130,683. All positions from superintendent to teacher show that salaries increase relative to district enrollment size as well as slight increases over previous years. The report of findings profiles the benefits received by superintendents, including, but not limited to contribution to annuities or private retirement plans, medical/hospital coverage, dental coverage, vision coverage, disability insurance, and medical and dental insurance coverage for the family of the superintendent. Respondents also overwhelmingly support professional memberships.