Executive Compensation
By 
There’s a move afoot in the Legislature to hike the salaries of the state’s six constitutional officers, who are now laboring at pay rates set six years ago. So CommonWealth set out to find how Massachusetts measures up, salary-wise, as a place to be chief executive of state government. It turns out that gubernatorial salaries, as set by statute, have become a fast-moving target. As other states have given their top officials a raise, Massachusetts has slipped from 26th in the nation in governor’s compensation less than two years ago to 36th today. And that’s not counting such perks as an executive residence-enjoyed by all but three other governors-or a lavish entertainment and travel account (New Jersey’s Christine Todd Whitman gets a $75,000 kitty). Comparing lieutenant governor salaries, Massachusetts fares better: 14th out of the 42 states that have the post.
| Governors’ Salaries and Perks | ||||||
| Rank | State | Salary | Automobile | Airplane | Helicopter | Residence |
| 1. | New York | $179,000 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 2. | California | $141,936 | Y | — | — | Y |
| 3. | Michigan | $138,757 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 4. | Illinois | $132,867 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 5. | Pennsylvania | $132,426 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 6. | New Jersey | $130,000 | Y | — | Y | Y |
| 7. | Virginia | $124,855 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 8. | Washington | $121,000 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 9. | Minnesota | $120,303 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 10. | Maryland | $120,000 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 11. | Ohio | $119,235 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 12. | Nevada | $117,000 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 13. | Texas | $115,345 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 14. | Florida | $114,047 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 15. | North Carolina | $113,656 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 16. | Missouri | $112,755 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 17. | Georgia | $111,480 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 18. | Delaware | $107,000 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 19. | South Carolina | $106,078 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 20. | Iowa | $104,352 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 21. | Wisconsin | $101,860 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 22. | Mississippi | $101,800 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 23. | Oklahoma | $101,000 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 24. | Kentucky | $97,068 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 25. | Arizona | $95,000 | Y | Y | — | — |
| 25. | Louisiana | $95,000 | Y | — | Y | Y |
| 25. | Rhode Island | $95,000 | Y | Y | Y | — |
| 25. | Wyoming | $95,000 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 29. | Hawaii | $94,780 | Y | — | — | Y |
| 30. | Alabama | $94,655 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 31. | Utah | $93,000 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 32. | Idaho | $92,500 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 33. | Kansas | $91,742 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 34. | New Hampshire | $90,547 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 35. | Colorado | $90,000 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 36. | Massachusetts | $90,000 | Y | — | Y | — |
| 36. | New Mexico | $90,000 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 36. | West Virginia | $90,000 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 39. | South Dakota | $89,898 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 40. | Oregon | $88,300 | Y | — | — | Y |
| 41. | Vermont | $88,026 | Y | — | — | — |
| 42. | Tennessee | $85,000 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 43. | Montana | $83,672 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 44. | Alaska | $81,648 | Y | — | — | Y |
| 45. | Connecticut | $78,000 | Y | — | — | Y |
| 46. | Indiana | $77,000 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 47. | North Dakota | $76,879 | Y | Y | — | Y |
| 48. | Maine | $70,000 | Y | — | — | Y |
| 49. | Arkansas | $68,448 | Y | — | — | Y |
| 50. | Nebraska | $65,000 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| U.S. Average | $102,258 | |||||
| Lieutenant Governors | ||
| Rank | State | Salary |
| 1. | New York | $151,500 |
| 2. | California | $123,750 |
| 3. | Florida | $109,245 |
| 4. | Pennsylvania | $111,204 |
| 5. | Illinois | $107,160 |
| 6. | North Carolina | $100,310 |
| 7. | Maryland | $100,000 |
| 8. | Michigan | $97,267 |
| 9. | Hawaii | $90,041 |
| 10. | Louisiana | $85,000 |
| 11. | Kentucky | $82,521 |
| 12. | Rhode Island | $80,000 |
| 13. | Alaska | $76,188 |
| 14. | Massachusetts | $75,000 |
| 15. | Iowa | $73,047 |
| 16. | Georgia | $72,812 |
| 17. | Utah | $72,300 |
| 18. | Connecticut | $71,000 |
| 19. | Oklahoma | $70,000 |
| 20. | Colorado | $68,500 |
| 21. | Missouri | $68,188 |
| 22. | Minnesota | $66,169 |
| 23. | Ohio | $65,500 |
| 24. | South Dakota | $65,270 |
| 25. | New Mexico | $65,000 |
| 26. | Indiana | $64,000 |
| 27. | North Dakota | $63,200 |
| 28. | Washington | $62,700 |
| 29. | Wisconsin | $60,182 |
| 30. | Montana | $58,961 |
| 31. | Nevada | $50,000 |
| 32. | Alabama | $48,620 |
| 33. | Delaware | $47,900 |
| 34. | Nebraska | $47,000 |
| 35. | South Carolina | $44,737 |
| 36. | Mississippi | $40,800 |
| 37. | Vermont | $40,289 |
| 38. | Virginia | $36,321 |
| 39. | Arkansas | $33,083 |
| 40. | Kansas | $25,949 |
| 41. | Idaho | $24,500 |
| 42. | Texas | $7,200 * |
| 43. | Arizona | (a) |
| Oregon | (a) | |
| Wyoming | (a) | |
| Maine | (b) | |
| New Hampshire | (b) | |
| New Jersey | (b) | |
| Tennessee | (b) | |
| West Virginia | (b) | |
| U.S. Average | $70,615** | |
|
**Texas not included in average Meet the Author
(b) Presidents (or Speakers) of the Senate are next in line of succession to the governorship. (In Tennessee, the Speaker of the Senate has statutory title of lieutenant governor.) |
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Sources: Salaries are from a CommonWealth survey of the 50 states. Governor’s perks are from 1998 survey by Council of State Governments and The Book of the States, 1998-99.