Average salary for county workers tops public payrolls

ALBANY — The average salary for county government employees in New York was $44,817 in the 2009-10 fiscal year, led by the $69,607 average in Westchester County, a report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy recently found.

The highest paid city employees outside New York City were also in Westchester, one of the nation’s most expensive places to live. The city of Yonkers, with 993 employees, led the state with an average pay of $71,659.

The report from the fiscally conservative group also found disparities in pay between upstate and downstate governments. The data did not include New York City.

The average pay for the 4,790 Monroe County employees was $47,085, up slightly from an average of $46,088 last year, the Empire Center found. But the county had 49 fewer employees, down from 4,839 in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The report is “an attempt to let people know where their money is going and ask questions about it,” said Lise Bang-Jensen, a senior policy analyst for the Empire Center, which posts public employees’ salaries online at www.seethroughny.net.

The group listed Clarkstown Police Chief Peter Noonan in Rockland County as the highest paid municipal employee with a salary of $301,534.

He could not immediately be reached for comment.

The report showed that the top average salaries were for police and fire officials, with an average salary of $78,562 in city departments.

Statewide, excluding New York City, county employees averaged slightly higher pay than other local governments. County employees earned an average of $44,817; city employees averaged $43,819; town employees averaged $35,632; and village employees averaged $34,615.

The average salary in the city of Rochester, which had 1,673 employees, was $48,771.