Government Pay Higher Than Private Sector

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/04/government-pay-higher-than-private-sector-1

"More than 1 in 3 of San Francisco's nearly 27,000 city workers earned $100,000 or more last year," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "The number of city workers paid at least $100,000 in base salary totaled 6,449 last year. When such extras as overtime are included, the number jumped to 9,487 workers, nearly eight times the number from a decade ago. And that calculation doesn't include the cost of often-generous city benefits such as health care and pensions."

"The average city worker salary in San Francisco is $93,000 before benefits, according to Deputy City Controller Monique Zmuda. The data take into account everyone from park gardeners and street cleaners to attorneys and technology specialists. Almost 100 city employees made $200,000 or more in 2009; six bumped past $300,000 when overtime and other cash-outs were included."

The liberal commenters will probably say more private sector firms should make like the government and pay a "living wage." San Francisco is an expensive place to live, after all. But private sector firms, unlike the government, don't have the power to extract revenue from individuals by force in the form of taxes.

We've had a few earlier posts on how government pay compares with the private sector: examples are here and here.

by Editor  |  Apr 29, 2010 at 8:09 am Related Topics:  Press, Taxes receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list