Washington, D.C.—The median annual base salary for local government chief appointed managers and administrators (CAOs) increased by 1.6% percent from $127,000 to $129,062, according to a survey of members conducted in 2016 by ICMA, the International City/County Management Association.

While local government CAOs have different titles—e.g., city manager, town manager, borough administrator, county executive, etc.—they typically are highly trained, nonpolitical professionals hired by elected officials to oversee the day-to-day operations of their communities in an ethical, efficient, and transparent manner. The majority of ICMA’s 11,000+ members are local government CAOs.

The median base salary among municipal CAOs increased from $125,000 to $126,699, up 1.4%, while the median for county CAOs moved from $140,000 to $145,279, a 3.8% increase from the previous year. These figures compare to a 5.5% gain in median base-plus-bonus pay for association executives and a 5.7% median increase for CEOs in professional societies, according to CEO Update.

“We were pleased to see a modest increase in CAO salaries and benefits following several years of flat or decreasing compensation,” says 2017 ICMA President Lee Feldman, who serves as city manager of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “We also believe that local government executives should put the good of the overall organization and that of residents before their personal compensation interests. The results of the 2016 ICMA survey indicate that while increasing slightly, local government CAO salaries and compensation are being determined fairly in most communities.”   

More than three-fourths (77.1%) of respondents to the survey reported that they received a salary increase. Increases between 2.1% and 5.0% accounted for more than half (50.7%) of reported base pay increase.

The median amount of additional compensation above base salary reported by survey respondents was $2,000. The median among municipal CAOs was $2,115, while the median among county CAOs was $1,250. The most commonly reported sources of additional compensation were car allowance and phone or technology allowances.

A large majority (84.9%) of responding CAOs reported that they receive at least an annual performance evaluation. A smaller majority (65.6%) reported that changes to their compensation are linked to the results of their performance evaluation.

Other highlights of the 2016 ICMA CAO Salary and Compensation Survey results include:

• Paid annual leave (97.8%), health insurance (97.7%), sick leave (96.4%), and life insurance (95.9%) were the employee benefits most often identified by respondents.
   
• Nearly 80% (79.4%) of responding CAOs reported receiving a defined benefit pension or retirement plan, while nearly 53% (52.8%) reported receiving a defined contribution toward a 457 plan, and 42% reported receiving a defined contribution toward a 401(a) or 401(k) plan.
   
• A little less than half (49.7%) of respondents reported that their base salary is publicly accessible on their local government’s website. This is roughly unchanged from the 2015 survey results.

The 2016 ICMA CAO Salary and Compensation Survey was administered electronically in November 2016 via an email invitation to 3,148 CAOs that contained a hyperlink to the online questionnaire. Of the 1,034 respondents (a 32.8% response rate), 88.3% represented municipal governments, 10.4% represented county governments, and 3.8% represented councils of government or special districts. The respondents represent 47 of the 50 states; no responses were received from Hawaii, Mississippi, or Vermont.

Review the complete results of the survey at: www.icma.org/caosalary2016surveyresults. ICMA also encourages local governments to review and adopt ICMA’s Guidelines for Compensation whenever considering compensation for a public-sector position.

About ICMA
ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government worldwide through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. ICMA is second only to the federal government in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data focused on issues related to local government management. Through expansive partnerships with local governments, federal agencies, nonprofits, and philanthropic funders, the organization gathers information on topics such as sustainability, health care, aging communities, economic development, homeland security, alternative service delivery, as well as performance measurement and management data on a variety of local government services—all of which support related training, education, and technical assistance.