Bloated Management Salaries in MoCo Government

MCGEO, Montgomery County’s employee union, held a rally last week to protest what they believe are unfair budget cuts targeting their members. One of their complaints is that county managers are overpaid and are largely protected from the layoffs that will be imposed on rank-and-file workers. But MCGEO is not merely complaining – they hired McCarthy Consulting of Edgewater, Maryland to obtain salaries of county manager classifications and compare them to comparable classifications in other counties. And now we present that data to our readers. Brace yourselves, folks.

Following are salaries for all managers in the Montgomery County government who make more than $150,000 per year and comparative statistics for their peers across the region.

Chief Administrative Officer Salaries

Montgomery: $266,300
Fairfax: $240,200
Alexandria: $233,100
District of Columbia: $225,000
Baltimore County: $190,000
Howard: $125,000
Prince George’s: $120,200
Anne Arundel: $106,500

Mean Salary: $188,288
MoCo % Above Mean: 41%

Chief of Police Salaries

Montgomery: $216,600
District of Columbia: $201,100
Baltimore County: $195,000
Howard: $112,800
Baltimore City: $112,200
Fairfax: $105,800
Anne Arundel: $99,600
Prince George’s: $98,900
M-NCPPC: $90,800
Alexandria: $87,800
Arlington: $62,000

Mean Salary: $125,691
MoCo % Above Mean: 72%

Fire Chief Salaries

Montgomery: $211,800
District of Columbia: $181,800
Baltimore County: $172,500
Howard: $108,800
Fairfax: $105,800
Baltimore City: $104,000
Anne Arundel: $99,600
Prince George’s: $98,900
Alexandria: $87,800
Arlington: $62,000

Mean Salary: $122,600
MoCo % Above Mean: 73%

Chief Counsel/County Attorney Salaries

Montgomery: $206,500
Fairfax: $201,600
Alexandria: $195,000
Arlington: $187,500
Baltimore City: $160,000
Baltimore County: $158,700
WSSC: $138,900
District of Columbia: $118,700
Prince George’s: $109,000
Howard: $101,800
Anne Arundel: $99,600

Mean Salary: $152,482
MoCo % Above Mean: 35%

Finance Director Salaries

Montgomery: $195,600
M-NCPCC: $172,000
District of Columbia: $157,900
Baltimore City: $112,200
Fairfax: $100,800
Prince George’s: $98,900
WSSC: $92,300
Howard: $91,900
Anne Arundel: $88,100
Alexandria: $83,600
Baltimore County: $76,300
Arlington: $62,000

Mean Salary: $110,967
MoCo % Above Mean: 76%

Personnel/Human Resources Director Salaries

Montgomery: $195,200
Baltimore County: $130,400
District of Columbia: $128,300
Baltimore City: $112,200
Fairfax: $100,800
Prince George’s: $98,900
Anne Arundel: $88,100
WSSC: $83,800
Alexandria: $83,600
Howard: $82,900
M-NCPPC: $75,000
Arlington: $62,000

Mean Salary: $103,433
MoCo % Above Mean: 89%

Planning/Economic Development Director Salaries

Montgomery: $194,500
Baltimore County: $126,500
District of Columbia: $118,500
Baltimore City: $112,200
Fairfax: $100,800
Howard: $91,900
Anne Arundel: $88,100
Alexandria: $87,800
M-NCPPC: $75,000
Arlington: $62,000

Mean Salary: $105,730
MoCo % Above Mean: 84%

Budget Director Salaries

Montgomery: $194,500
Baltimore County: $158,700
District of Columbia: $157,900
Prince George’s: $109,000
Fairfax: $100,800
Anne Arundel: $99,600
Howard: $91,900
Baltimore City: $77,200
M-NCPPC: $75,000
WSSC: $74,000
Arlington: $59,100

Mean Salary: $108,882
MoCo % Above Mean: 79%

Information Systems Director Salaries

Baltimore County: $195,000
Montgomery: $194,500
District of Columbia: $128,300
Fairfax: $105,800
Prince George’s: $98,900
M-NCPPC: $91,000
Anne Arundel: $88,100
Alexandria: $87,800
Howard: $82,900
Baltimore City: $77,500
Arlington: $62,000

Mean Salary: $110,164
MoCo % Above Mean: 77%

Library Director Salaries

Baltimore County: $177,000
Montgomery: $169,500
District of Columbia: $133,900
Fairfax: $100,800
Alexandria: $83,600
Baltimore City: $77,200
Arlington: $62,000

Mean Salary: $114,857
MoCo % Above Mean: 48%

Public Information Director Salaries

Montgomery: $165,000
Baltimore County: $137,800
District of Columbia: $107,100
Fairfax: $87,700
WSSC: $83,800
Howard: $82,900
Alexandria: $79,700
M-NCPPC: $75,000
Anne Arundel: $72,300
Prince George’s: $70,300
Arlington: $62,000
Baltimore City: $39,700

Mean Salary: $88,608
MoCo % Above Mean: 86%

Director of Parks/Recreation Salaries

Montgomery: $162,000
Baltimore County: $155,600
District of Columbia: $118,500
Howard: $91,900
Anne Arundel: $88,100
Alexandria: $83,600
Baltimore City: $77,200
Arlington: $62,000

Mean Salary: $104,863
MoCo % Above Mean: 54%

Aging Director Salaries

Montgomery: $151,400
Baltimore County: $141,100
District of Columbia: $103,000
Prince George’s: $98,900
Anne Arundel: $88,100
Baltimore City: $77,200
Howard: $74,900
Fairfax: $69,100
Arlington: $53,000

Mean Salary: $95,189
MoCo % Above Mean: 59%

McCarthy Consulting also collected data on 59 rank-and-file occupations and found that MoCo workers made 10.7% more than area averages.