Salary Comparisons
There is a perception among some Washington citizens that their elected officials' salaries are too high and are not comparable with other public positions.
The information on these pages is presented to provide you with factual information about how our elected officials' salaries compare with their peers in other states and with public positions within the state of Washington.
The following chart compares the salary for the Governor of Washington with a few public managerial positions in the state.
Position |
Annual Salary |
Port of Seattle CEO |
319,300 |
Port of Tacoma CEO |
220,000 |
Bellevue City Manager |
199,596 |
Tacoma City Manager |
193,248 |
President, The Evergreen State College |
188,857 |
Seattle City Executive |
188,316 |
Governor |
166,891 |
Port of Vancouver CEO |
159,120 |
View additional comparative data on the following pages.
Legislative Salary Comparisons
Executive Branch Salary Comparisons
Comparison data was obtained by telephone and internet surveys by Commission staff and from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the Council of State Governments (CSG), the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts, and the 2006 Salary and Benefit Survey published by the Washington Association of Cities (AWC).