Mary Nobilski, a Steuben County employee, was the Southern Tier’s highest-paid local government employee in fiscal year 2025-26, at $309,582, according to payroll data submitted to the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS). She was the only local employee in the region paid more than Governor Hochul’s $250,000 salary.

Statewide, the 179,222 employees of New York’s counties, cities, towns and villages outside New York City were paid a total of $12.0 billion in fiscal year 2025-26, an average of $67,037, according to the Empire Center’s annual What They Make 2026 report. The Southern Tier’s 13,274 employees averaged $50,093, seventh among the state’s nine regions outside New York City.

Unlike most of the state, the Southern Tier’s top earners were mainly county officials rather than police officers. Only one police officer, Theodore Schwartz of Ithaca, ranked among the region’s ten highest paid, at $200,053.

Local governments in Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins counties paid a total of $665 million. A total of 8.0 percent of their employees were paid $100,000 or more, compared with about one in five statewide.

Among the findings:

• Tompkins County employees averaged $64,173, the highest of any county in the region. Broome County had the largest county workforce, 1,946 employees averaging $54,508.
• Elmira had the highest city average in the region, at $74,433, followed by Ithaca ($68,188). Binghamton had the largest city payroll, $36.2 million for 620 employees.
• The Town of Ithaca’s employees averaged $70,962, the highest of any town in the region. Among villages, Johnson City’s 149 employees averaged $68,387.
• Ithaca’s police and fire employees averaged $101,007, the highest in the region, followed by the Town of Vestal ($95,757) and Elmira ($94,709).
• Local government payrolls came to $952 per resident in the Southern Tier, compared with $1,054 statewide. Ithaca’s $1,051 per resident was the highest of any city in the region. Among counties, Schuyler ($1,141) and Delaware ($1,115) spent the most per resident on local payrolls, counting the county and all of its cities, towns and villages, and Tioga ($695) the second-least of any county in the state.

Ten Highest-Paid Local Government Employees – Southern Tier

The amounts listed do not include fringe benefits such as health insurance and employer pension contributions.

Payroll records for every Southern Tier county, city, town, village and special district can be searched at the Empire Center's transparency website, SeeThroughNY.net. The full statewide report, What They Make 2026, includes searchable pay figures for every local government outside New York City.

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