Press Releases

California Controller Publishes
2021 Payroll Data for Special Districts

PR22:15
8/30/2022
Contact: JENNIFER HANSON
(916) 324-2709
scocomm@sco.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO—State Controller Betty T. Yee today published 2021 self-reported payroll data for California special districts on the Government Compensation in California (GCC) website. The data cover 162,912 positions and a total of nearly $10.38 billion in 2021 wages and more than $2.92 billion in health and retirement costs for 3,061 special districts.

Users of the site can:

  • View compensation levels on maps and search by region;
  • Narrow results by name of the district or by job title; and
  • Export raw data or custom reports.

Special districts are governmental entities created by a local community to meet a specific need. Data for 2021 show the top 10 districts by total wages are health care, transportation, utility, water, and fire districts. The top 10 individual salaries reported all are in health care districts.

California law requires cities, counties, and special districts to annually report compensation data to the State Controller. The State Controller also maintains and publishes state and California State University salary data. A list of districts that did not file or filed incomplete reports is available here.

Since the GCC website launched in 2010, it has registered more than 14 million pageviews. The site contains pay and benefit information on more than two million government jobs in California, as reported annually by each entity.

As the chief fiscal officer of California, Controller Yee is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources. The Controller 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 and reelected in 2018, 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.