How do Mecklenburg government salaries stack up? 1,000 people make six figures
Many of Mecklenburg County’s top officials make similar or better money than those doing comparable jobs in other parts of the state and country.
The Observer compared Mecklenburg County government salaries from its database to publicly available data for similar positions in peer counties in North Carolina, throughout the country and the city of Charlotte. About 18.9% of Mecklenburg employees make a six-figure salary.
Mecklenburg County Manager Mike Bryant is the county’s highest paid employee, with a salary that exceeds the pay for some but not all in similar positions.
More than 1,000 out of Mecklenburg County’s approximately 5,600 full-time employees make a six-figure salary, data show. The highest earners generally are in leadership positions and/or jobs related to law, medicine and public health, technology or engineering.
The median household income in all of Mecklenburg County is $87,005, according to U.S. Census data.
Here’s how Mecklenburg salaries stack up against Charlotte and other counties around North Carolina and the country.
How Mecklenburg County salaries compare to city of Charlotte
Multiple top employees in Mecklenburg County make less than their counterparts with the city of Charlotte as of late 2025, data from the Observer’s salary databases show. The city employs about 8,000 people full-time.
City Manager Marcus Jones makes $499,210 annually compared to Bryant’s $420,000.
Charlotte’s city attorney also makes more than Mecklenburg’s county attorney — $350,700 compared to $344,268. The salary of the county’s top law enforcement officer, Sheriff Garry McFadden, trails that of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson, $271,277 to $285,000.
The head of Charlotte’s public relations department makes more than his county counterpart — $223,792 to $199,125. But Mecklenburg’s second-in-command for communications has a higher salary than the city’s — $189,001 to $155,000.
Some county department heads make more than their city counterparts. Mecklenburg County pays its head of information technology $276,435, while the city’s top IT person makes $249,638.91. The leader of Mecklenburg’s human resources department also pulls in more than the city’s — $239,030 to $229,029.
Both organizations’ budget directors have similar salaries — $225,292 for Mecklenburg compared to $230,699.72 for Charlotte.
How Mecklenburg salaries compare to other NC counties
Salaries for Mecklenburg County employees outpace some of the region’s smaller surrounding counties and other major metropolitan areas.
Data obtained by the Observer from Union and Cabarrus counties show Bryant makes more than his counterparts in both of those communities. Cabarrus’s interim manager has a salary of $292,906 and Union County’s manager makes $275,000.
With salaries of $232,315 and $275,000, respectively, Cabarrus and Unions’ county attorneys also make less than Mecklenburg’s county attorneys. The same goes for county sheriffs — salaries of $185,390 in Cabarrus and $215,000 in Union — and top public relations officials, who make $131,186 in Cabarrus and $160,000 in Union.
The trend continues for other leadership positions:
- The Union County tax assessor’s salary of $184,536 is lower than that of Mecklenburg County’s assessor, who makes $271,734 annually
- Cabarrus and Union counties’ human resources heads make less than their Mecklenburg counterpart, $152,755.20 and $166,929.13, respectively
- Pay for Cabarrus and Union counties’ budget directors also trails their Mecklenburg counterpart, making $166,233.60 and $155,000
Comparisons to county employees in the Triangle are slightly less clear, as the most recent pay data available through the Raleigh News & Observer’s salary databases is from 2024.
At that time, the managers of Durham, Wake and Orange counties all made less than what Bryant makes now in Mecklenburg, $295,000, $373,212 and $227,063, respectively. That same trend applies to those Raleigh-area counties’ attorneys and sheriffs. But those employees may have received pay increases since that change those dynamics.
How Mecklenburg salaries stack up nationally
Pay comparisons vary more when stacking Mecklenburg County up against similarly sized counties across the country.
In Franklin County, Ohio, home to Columbus, the highest paid employee in 2024 was the head of a Board of Developmental Disabilities, The Columbus Dispatch reported, who made $430,447. The second-highest earner was the county pathologist, who made $345,964. Mecklenburg doesn’t have a comparable paid board, but its medical examiner made less than Franklin’s with a salary of $334,369.
As of 2024, Franklin’s county manager was making less than Bryant today, with a salary of $307,679.
In Tarrant County, Texas, where Fort Worth is located, the county’s top official also made less than Bryant in 2025. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Tarrant’s county administrator, their equivalent of a county manager, had a salary of $325,000. Tarrant’s sheriff and head of public relations also made less than their Mecklenburg counterparts, $224,191 and $113,342, respectively.
But Tarrant’s medical examiner made noticeably more than Mecklenburg’s, with a salary of $482,986. Mecklenburg’s head of human resources also makes less than their Tarrant counterpart, who pulled in $250,000 in 2025.
Further west, many employees of California’s Santa Clara County, home to San Jose, were making more than those working similar jobs in Mecklenburg County.
Santa Clara’s top leadership, a county chief operating officer and county executive, both make more than Bryant, according to 2024 data from the nonprofit Transparent California. Those San Jose-area leaders made $459,573.09 and $492,047.05, respectively, that year.
Santa Clara’s salaries for sheriff, medical examiner, county assessor, budget director and head of IT were also all higher than Mecklenburg’s as of 2024.
Observer reporter Caitlin McGlade contributed to the reporting of this story.
This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
