City of Boston / Planning / Chief (M)
Job-title file
Lead staff and operations — set priorities, allocate resources, and oversee program delivery.
2 employees hold this title in Planning. Median total compensation for the role is $194,552, above the department median of $89,492.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, the median wage for First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers — about 2,460 people — is $96,740. Planning pays a median base salary of $193,026 for this role, 100% above that figure — above the 90th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers across every employer in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Planning’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers — about 99,140 people — is $93,530. Planning’s median base salary is 106% above that national figure, above the 90th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Planning is $194,552, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 6 jurisdictions. In City of Boston, the median of $185,597 ranks #3 of 6. See Chief across all of City of Boston →
Median total compensation for comparable Chiefroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Record list
Page 1
Chief (M)/Planning
Source-specific fields
Michael O'Shea holds the role of Chief (M) at Planning. In 2024, their total compensation was $203,508.
Chief (M)/Planning
Source-specific fields
Lacey Rose holds the role of Chief (M) at Planning. In 2024, their total compensation was $185,597.