A total of 400 local government employees in New York outside New York City were paid more than $300,000 during fiscal year 2025-26, the large majority of them police officers on Long Island, according to the Empire Center’s annual What They Make 2026 report, based on payroll data submitted to the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS).

The 179,222 employees of the state’s counties, cities, towns and villages outside New York City were paid a total of $12.0 billion during the fiscal year, which ran from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026. They averaged $67,037. A total of 37,304 were paid $100,000 or more, up 6.7 percent from the previous year, and 1,567 were paid more than Governor Hochul’s $250,000 salary.

Among the report’s findings:

• The highest-paid local government employee was Alan Bakker of the Village of Northport police department, which lists him as its chief, at $485,632. The second-highest was Daniel Hyman, a Town of Ramapo police officer, at $421,338.
• Of the 400 employees paid more than $300,000, 350 worked on Long Island. Suffolk County alone had 211 and Nassau County 101.
• Police officers and firefighters averaged $125,366, more than double the $57,983 average for general employees. They were 13 percent of the local workforce but received 25 percent of total pay, and police officers held 84 of the 100 highest-paid local government positions.
• The highest-paid employee outside police and fire ranks was Charles L’Hommedieu, a Suffolk County correction officer, at $353,711.
• Nassau County employees averaged $114,732, the highest of any county. Yonkers had the highest average of any city, at $120,425, and Ramapo the highest of any town, at $118,105.
• All 12 village police departments in the state that averaged more than $200,000 per officer are on Long Island, led by Lake Success at $250,424.
• Local government payrolls came to $1,054 per resident outside New York City, ranging from $1,214 in the Mid-Hudson region to $892 in the Mohawk Valley.
• 5,720 people appear to be on the payrolls of two or more local governments, based on matching names and hire dates.

Pay varied widely across the state. Long Island had the highest average pay of any region, $84,874, while North Country employees averaged $47,999.

Pay figures for all 1,517 counties, cities, towns and villages outside New York City can be searched in the table below.

The report also covers the 16,750 employees of 498 special districts, such as library, fire and water districts, that participate in NYSLRS. They were paid a total of $915 million.

Pay figures do not include fringe benefits such as health insurance and employer pension contributions. A total of 63 employees were reported at exactly $250,000 and 44 at exactly $350,000, the state and federal pension earnings limits, so their actual pay was likely higher and the counts above those thresholds are conservative.

The full report, including searchable pay figures for every county, city, town and village outside New York City, is available at empirecenter.org. Payroll records for every local government employee can be searched at the Empire Center's transparency website, SeeThroughNY.net.

The Empire Center is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank based in Albany.