Sheriffs, mayors and professors with the University of California are among the workers in the state whose salaries you can view. And with the fall semester beginning and local elections coming this year and the following, you may be curious to know more details about the people serving you or your city.
California law requires cities, counties and special districts to annually report compensation data to the California State Controller’s office, which also publishes payroll data for state departments, the University of California and California State University systems, according to the California State Controller’s Office. The office also requests compensation data voluntarily from superior courts, community college districts, K-12 school districts and more.
The most recent batch of compensation data has been rolling out since June, beginning with self-reported payroll for cities and counties — a report that covers 746,358 positions, according to a news release.
“This report is a vital tool in promoting fiscal transparency and accountability in local government," Controller Malia M. Cohen said in a statement. "Californians deserve to know how public funds are being spent and who is being paid with their tax dollars.
“The newly published data includes 461 cities and 55 counties. The City of Hayward had the highest average city employee wage in California, followed by the cities of Atherton, Beverly Hills, San Francisco and Half Moon Bay.”
Hayward average city wage for 2024: $146,215
Atherton average city wage for 2024: $129,449
Beverly Hills average city wage for 2024: $127,264
San Francisco average city wage for 2024: $125,463
Half Moon Bay average city wage for 2024: $120,957
Here's a look at just one way you can find pay data on these California workers.
Whose salaries can I find?
The state controller publishes public employer compensation data at publicpay.ca.gov. Employee names are not searchable on the database.
You can look up compensation data by department (police, health departments, parks and recreation and more) for a city, county or at the state level (think CalFire or California State Parks). You can also see how much elected officials earn in your city or county.
Other compensation data for 2024 coming later this year includes for the University of California, community college districts and K-12 education, with the former two coming out in September and the latter dropping in December.
Payroll data for special districts — public agencies that provide specific services to a community such as sanitation or providing water service, according to the Los Angeles County auditor-controller — is set to be released on Aug. 29.
How do I look up how much my teacher, professor makes?
Californians may not find payroll data for all K-12 school districts in the state. Still, payroll data for some of the biggest school districts in California can be found on the website, including Los Angeles Unified School District, Fresno Unified School District, San Bernardino City Unified School District and more.
Meanwhile, compensation data for 2024 for the California State University schools and the chancellor’s office have been published on the website, and you can see college-specific pay data. The same goes for the University of California, although the most recent compensation data is set to be released in September.
Among what you can view are the highest paid employees across universities.
Other ways to see salaries in California
You can also use ucannualwage.ucop.edu/wage to search University of California employee pay, which covers UC’s career faculty, staff employees, part-time, temporary and student employees. The searchable database from the Office of the President does allow users to search by name or title.
Cities may also post their payroll information online. For example, Los Angeles posts such information on controller.lacity.gov/data.
The California State Assembly website and the California State Senate website publish salaries of lawmakers.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: How much do these California workers make? Salary may be online
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