The Croner Company

What The Croner Company does

The Croner Company is a U.S.-based compensation consulting and benchmarking firm founded in 1978 and headquartered in San Rafael, California. It provides two integrated service lines: Compensation Consulting (board advisory, broad-based and executive pay programs, bonus, sales-incentive and equity plan design, job architecture, career pathing, pay transparency, geographic pay differentials, and custom studies) and Compensation Surveys (proprietary benchmark datasets covering thousands of jobs across specialized industries). The survey portfolio includes industry-specific products for Digital Content & Technology, Software Games, Animation & Visual Effects, Entertainment, Local Media Sales, Grantmaking Foundations, and C2HR Content Developers / Connectivity Providers, with both U.S. and International editions for select products. Access is delivered through quote-based professional-services engagements and a dedicated client portal at CronerSurveys.com.

The firm's technology core is its proprietary survey dataset and validation methodologies, accumulated across nearly five decades, with domain specialization — not software automation — positioned as the primary differentiator. Its go-to-market is an enterprise field-sales motion targeting Fortune 500 and emerging enterprises in Entertainment, Media, Retail, Telecommunications, and Technology, alongside Philanthropy/Nonprofit institutions. Revenue is generated through professional-services consulting engagements (board advisory, plan design, custom studies) and recurring subscriptions to compensation survey data, with pricing handled on a quote basis rather than via transparent public rate cards.

Customer concentration sits in a moderately concentrated range: the firm claims that a majority of Fortune 500 companies in its core verticals are clients, and the named-logo roster spans Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Epic Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Activision, Riot Games, Nintendo, Take-Two Interactive, Tencent, Ubisoft, Spotify, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Target, Allstate, A&E Networks, Fox Networks, The New York Times, iHeartMedia, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, plus the NBA, NFL, and MLB Advanced Media.

Name

The Croner Company

Legal name

The Croner Company

Website

https://croner.biz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Croner Company is a U.S.-based compensation consulting and benchmarking firm founded in 1978, providing proprietary survey data, pay program design, and board advisory services to Fortune 500 enterprises and large foundations across Entertainment, Media, Technology, and Philanthropy sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Compensation Consulting & HR Advisory

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Compensation, Benefits & Rewards Consulting (BPAHAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards Advisory (BPACAJAG)

Keywords

• Compensation consulting
• Executive compensation
• Compensation benchmarking
• Salary surveys
• Incentive plan design

Headquarters

HQ city

San Rafael

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Compensation Consulting Services: Professional consulting services including board advisory, broad-based and executive pay programs, bonus and equity plan design, job architecture and career pathing
2. Compensation Survey Subscriptions: Subscription-based access to detailed benchmark compensation data for thousands of jobs across multiple industries and sectors, including custom survey offerings

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Croner Company provides compensation consulting services and benchmark compensation surveys for leading and emerging enterprises in Digital Media, Entertainment, Technology, Philanthropy, and Nonprofits. Core deliverables include board advisory, broad-based and executive pay program design, bonus, sales incentive and equity plan design, job architecture and career pathing, pay transparency support, and rigorously validated industry-specific compensation survey data for thousands of jobs.

Product overview

The Croner Company offers a unified suite of compensation expertise and data services for enterprises in digital media and related sectors. The portfolio centers on two core offerings: Compensation Consulting (advisory services including board advisory, executive and broad-based pay programs, incentive plan design, and custom studies) and Compensation Surveys (benchmark compensation data for thousands of jobs across key industries). The survey products span multiple industry-specific verticals including Digital Content & Technology, Software Games, Animation and Visual Effects, Entertainment, Local Media, Foundations, and C2HR content developer and connectivity provider segments. All offerings are delivered as professional services rather than a self-service software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Compensation Consulting Advisory services including board advisory services, broad-based and executive pay programs, bonus, sales incentive and equity plan design, job architecture and career pathing, pay transparency, geographic pay differentials, and custom studies and compensation solutions for enterprises in digital media, entertainment, philanthropy and technology.
• Compensation Surveys Subscription-based access to detailed benchmark compensation data for thousands of jobs with relevant data cuts for key industries and sectors, rigorously validated data, thorough evaluation of emerging pay practices, and compensation trend reporting.
• Board Advisory Services Advisory on compensation design and monitoring, compensation committee support, and board-level advisory on laws and guidelines for executive compensation.
• Digital Content & Technology Survey Industry-specific compensation survey covering digital content and technology sector jobs, providing benchmark pay data for roles in digital media, advertising services, ecommerce, and related technology verticals.
• Software Games Survey Compensation survey covering software games sector jobs, available for both North America and International markets.
• Animation and Visual Effects Survey Compensation survey covering animation and visual effects sector jobs.
• Entertainment Survey Compensation survey covering entertainment sector jobs, available for United States and International markets.
• Local Media Sales Survey Compensation survey covering local media sales sector jobs.
• Total Compensation Survey of Foundations Compensation survey covering grantmaking foundations and philanthropic organizations, providing benchmark pay data for foundation and nonprofit roles.
• C2HR Content Developers Compensation Survey Compensation survey covering content developer roles in the technology sector.
• C2HR Connectivity Providers Compensation Survey Compensation survey covering connectivity provider roles in the technology sector.
• Custom Compensation Surveys Custom surveys and studies tailored to specific organizational needs and industry sectors, including unique jobs, emerging roles, and organization-specific compensation questions.
• Philanthropic and Nonprofit Consulting Specialized compensation consulting services tailored for philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, including compensation program design and benchmarking for mission-driven entities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Value and ROI through meaningful survey data and consulting services

Named customers38 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Payscale: Payscale operates a software/SaaS compensation data platform with continuously updated market data and HR analytics tools, overlapping Croner's survey and benchmarking offerings. It represents the technology-enabled, real-time alternative to traditional survey-based firms like Croner.
• Radford (Aon): Radford, owned by Aon, runs industry-specific compensation surveys (including technology, life sciences, and media) and provides consulting — directly mirroring Croner's survey-plus-advisory model in adjacent verticals. Radford is the closest direct competitor to Croner on industry-benchmark compensation data.
• Salary.com: Salary.com runs a compensation data platform with broad industry salary data, HR-reported salary surveys, and comp management software. It competes directly with Croner for benchmarking and compensation analytics, especially among HR teams seeking on-demand data.
• Compensation Resources: Compensation Resources publishes compensation surveys and provides executive compensation, sales incentive, and HR consulting for mid-market and larger employers — overlapping Croner's broader-based pay, executive comp, and incentive plan design offerings.
• Culpepper: Culpepper conducts industry-specific compensation surveys and consulting for technology, life sciences, and other professional services verticals, comparable to Croner's specialized data approach. Both compete for F500 and mid-market HR compensation budgets in similar verticals.
• Pearl Meyer: Pearl Meyer is a specialized executive compensation and broad-based rewards consulting firm serving F500 and mid-market clients — directly comparable to Croner's consulting arm. It frequently competes with Croner on board advisory, executive pay, and incentive plan design engagements.

Others

• WorldatWork: WorldatWork is a nonprofit association for Total Rewards and HR professionals offering education, certifications, and salary surveys. It is not a direct competitor but is an ecosystem participant — its surveys, content, and community shape the same compensation-benchmarking buyer base that Croner sells into.

Broad incumbents

• Mercer: Mercer is a global HR and compensation consulting powerhouse publishing widely used compensation surveys (e.g., MECS, TRIAD) and offering executive comp, job architecture, and total rewards consulting. It competes for the same F500 Total Rewards budget as Croner, though as part of a much broader HR and benefits portfolio.
• Willis Towers Watson (WTW): WTW publishes industry compensation surveys (e.g., the General Industry and Middle Management surveys) and offers executive compensation and broad-based rewards consulting. Like Mercer, it competes with Croner for compensation benchmarking and consulting mandates but serves a far broader mandate across insurance, risk, and HR.
• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry combines executive search with a sizable Rewards and Measurement practice that delivers compensation surveys, job evaluation, and incentive design consulting. It competes with Croner for compensation and rewards mandates at large employers, but compensates and rewards is only one of several business lines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-croner-company
• Xx.com/cronercompany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Croner Company