Contact: 518.434.3100
Ninety-five out of 933 state Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) members who retired in 2011 qualified for a pension of more than $100,000, according to data posted at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. The proportion was lower than in 2008, 2009 and 2010, when the number of retirees and their benefits were swelled by early retirement incentives, but remains more than three times higher than a decade ago.
The average pension for all newly retired PFRS members came to $60,798, while pensions averaged $25,721 for members of the New York State Employee Retirement System. According to the system’s 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, newly retired members with at least 35 years of service were eligible for average pension benefits of $97,793 and $55,858, respectively.
The benefit levels shown in the database are the maximum allowable benefits, which can exceed the amount actually collected by those retirees who, for example, opt to receive less in order to preserve a continuing benefit for their survivors. Maximum allowable benefits for the 367,806 retired NYSLRS members as of the end of fiscal year 2011-12 totaled more than $8.4 billion – up from nearly $7.7 billion in fiscal year 2010-11.
NYSLRS covers most employees of the state government, public authorities, counties, cities, towns and villages outside New York City, whose employees belong to separate municipal pension plans. NYSLRS also covers those school district employees not covered by the New York State Teachers Retirement System.
Click here for tables listing the top 100 pensioners and average pensions by retirement year and a graph illustrating growth of PFRS pensions.
Users of SeeThroughNY can search the pension database by name, pension system, last known employer, year, and benefit amount. The state pension database now contains data for fiscal years 2012, 2011, and 2010.
The Albany-based Empire Center is a non-partisan, independent think tank.
You may also like
132 NYSLRS Retirees Receive Pensions Over $200K in FY2026
A total of 132 retirees from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) were eligible to collect $200,000 or more in pensions during the 2026 fiscal year, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Among the 132 Read More
Port Authority Payroll Passes $1.2B as 20 Employees Collect $400k+
Twenty Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees collected more than $400,000 each in total pay last year, while average pay agencywide rose three percent, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
The Por Read More
NYC Employee Pension Payments Rise To $6.2 billion
The pension plan covering most New York city government agencies, including the City’s subway system, had 62 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, according to , the Empire Center’s transparency website.
According to the d Read More
Fourteen NYC Educators Receive Over Half a Million Dollars in Pensions
Fourteen retired New York City educators received more than $500,000 in pension benefits in 2025, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
The data was obtained from the New York City Teachers’ Retirement Read More
34 MTA Workers Made $200K+ In Overtime In 2025
Thirty-four employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) received more than $200,000 in overtime payments in 2025, as total annual pay surpassed half a million dollars for some, according to , the Empire Center’s governm Read More
Empire Center Breaks Down Albany’s Pork Barrel Spending
Albany legislators steered over $83 million in grants to 293 local projects between April and December 2025 , according to under a Freedom of Information Law request.
The governor and state legislators hand-picked the grantees for mor Read More
Five Retired New York Educators Collect Over $300k In Pensions
As state lawmakers consider enhancing retirement benefits for government workers, fresh data from the Empire Center confirm that existing pensions are generous compared to national norms. Read More
Average Pay at Port Authority Surges as 11 Employees Collect $400k+
Eleven Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees collected more than $400,000 each in total pay last year as average pay surged nine percent, according to 2024 payroll , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Read More