Press Releases

SACRAMENTO — State Controller Betty T. Yee today announced an update to the Government Compensation in California website, which now includes 2016 self-reported data for cities and counties. The data covers 686,418 positions and a total of more than $44 billion in wages in 2016 for 53 counties and 470 cities.

Users of the site can:

• View compensation levels on maps and search for compensation by region;
• Quickly see lists of top earners at cities, counties, and other local governments;
• Narrow results by name of employer or by job title;
• Build charts and trend graphics; and
• Export raw data or custom reports.

For example, the new data show the three counties with the highest average government salaries in 2016 were Santa Clara ($85,650), Los Angeles ($75,788), and Alameda ($74,658). For cities in 2016, Vernon was highest ($108,673), followed by Cathedral City ($102,802), and Hayward ($101,668). Average wages in city governments increased by nearly 2 percent from 2015 to 2016, from $63,856 to $65,125. Average wages increased by 1.5 percent in county governments, from $63,809 to $64,779.

The top paid county elected officials in 2016 were in Los Angeles County, Santa Clara County, and San Mateo County. For cities, the top paid elected officials hailed from Santa Clara, Redondo Beach, and San Francisco.

The new data show the average retirement and health care costs in counties decreased by almost 1 percent to $25,180 and increased by more than 1 percent in cities to $19,258. City governments with the highest average retirement and health care costs were Industry, Inglewood, and San Jose. For county governments, it was Alameda, Kern, and Orange.

Twelve cities and four counties failed to file or provided incomplete or late information. A list of non-compliant entities is available here. San Francisco is both a city and a county; this website reports San Francisco as a city.

Since the website launched in 2010, it has registered over 10 million page views. The site now contains information on more than 2 million jobs annually in California, as reported by each government entity.

As the chief fiscal officer of California, Controller Yee is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources. The Controller also safeguards many types of property until claimed by the rightful owners, and has independent auditing authority over government agencies that spend state funds. She is a member of numerous financing authorities, and fiscal and financial oversight entities including the Franchise Tax Board. She also serves on the boards for the nation’s two largest public pension funds. Elected in 2014, Controller Yee is the tenth woman elected to a statewide office in California’s history. Follow the Controller on Twitter at @CAController and on Facebook at California State Controller’s Office.

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