A quarter of Charlotte city jobs pay $100k. How does pay compare to other cities?

Many of Charlotte’s top city officials make more money than their counterparts in other North Carolina cities. But similar-sized cities beyond state lines offered a mixed bag, with some leaders elsewhere making significantly more than in Charlotte.

The Observer compared full-time city employee salaries from its database to publicly available data for similar positions in Mecklenburg County and other cities throughout the country.

About 2,300 city employees make six figures, which represents 27.6% of all full-time workers. That’s more than double the number of people in Mecklenburg County government who hit that salary benchmark.

City Manager Marcus Jones makes the most at $499,210. Many of the city’s highest earners work in Jones’ office, in the city attorney’s office, for the airport or in other transportation roles, according to data as of March 2026.

Here’s how that compares to other municipalities.

How Charlotte salaries compares to other NC cities

Most of Charlotte’s top employees make more than their counterparts across the state. That pay gap is especially pronounced for Jones, whose salary dwarfs every other city in the state. Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina.

The city manager in Raleigh, the capital and second-largest city in the state, made $323,978, according to the Raleigh News & Observer’s slightly older salary database, which is from 2024.

The Raleigh city attorney made $255,500 compared to Charlotte City Attorney Andrea Leslie-Fite, who makes $350,700. Charlotte Police Chief Estella Patterson makes $285,000 after moving from Raleigh, where she previously made $222,911 as police chief.

The trend continues across departments:

• The Raleigh communications director salary is lower than Charlotte’s head of public relations, $167,000 to $223,792.
• Pay for the transportation director is lower in Raleigh, $177,939 to $240,825.
• The Raleigh human resources director makes less than Charlotte’s, $180,000 to $229,030.

Pay also trails in other large cities in the state, to varying degrees.

The Greensboro city manager makes $300,000, according to the Triad Business Journal reported in October. The city attorney makes $290,000, which is more than in Raleigh but still significantly lower than Charlotte.

Pay in Durham is much lower across the board, trailing the Queen City by over $100,000 in some top positions such as the city manager, city attorney and communications director.

How Charlotte salaries stack up nationally

In a sharp contrast, cities of similar size across the country offer more competitive salaries compared to Charlotte.

The median full-time salary in Charlotte is $81,016 compared to $86,711 in Austin, Texas, and $127,555 in San Jose, California. The Austin data is from 2025, and the San Jose data is from 2024.

Jones still has a higher base salary than the San Jose city manager, however, who makes $429,960, according to data from the nonprofit Transparent California.

Most other top San Jose positions paid better than in Charlotte, with the exception of the aviation director. The position switched hands mid-year after a retirement, but the two directors’ combined salaries amounted to $313,072 for the year.

In Charlotte, Aviation Director Haley Gentry is the second-highest paid city official with $342,122. That’s 3.7 times the median annual pay for the department that runs Charlotte Douglas International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world.

Austin also pays its top officials more money with a few notable exceptions.

The city attorney makes $284,496, which is about $66,200 less than in Charlotte. And the chief communications director makes about $43,200 less.

The Austin city manager makes more money than Jones, though, with a $538,608 salary, data from the Austin American-Statesman shows.

Columbus, Ohio, does not have a city manager because it follows a different government structure. The city manager’s roles are absorbed by the mayor, who makes $273,063 as of 2026, and several directors who make less than Jones and his deputy city managers.

How Charlotte salaries compare to Mecklenburg County

Many of Mecklenburg County’s top leaders make less than their counterparts with the city, data from the Observer’s database show.

County manager Mike Bryant, the highest paid employee, makes $420,000. Mecklenburg County employees about 5,600 full-time employees, more than 1,000 of whom — or about 18.9% — make six figures.

The county attorney makes $344,268, just shy of the city attorney, and Sheriff Gary McFadden trails the police chief with a $271,277 salary.

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.

Observer reporters Caitlin McGlade and Mary Ramsey contributed to the reporting of this story.

Nick Sullivan

The Charlotte Observer

Nick Sullivan is the city reporter for The Charlotte Observer. Before moving to the Queen City, he covered the Arizona Department of Education for The Arizona Republic, where he received national recognition for investigative reporting from the Education Writers Association. He also covered K-12 schools at The Colorado Springs Gazette. Nick is one of those Ohio transplants everybody likes to complain about, but he’s learning the ways of the South. When he’s not on the clock, he’s probably eating his weight in brisket at Midwood Smokehouse.