City of Boston / General Counsel
Role across City of Boston
General Counsel
Provide legal advice, draft and review documents, and represent the agency in legal matters.
7 people hold the General Counsel role across 2 departments in City of Boston, with a median total compensation of $164,844. Among 14 jurisdictions where this role is reported, City of Boston ranks #7 by median pay.
- Employees
- 7
- Median pay
- $164,844
- Departments
- 2
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #7 of 14
Compared with the local labor market
General Counsel pay vs. the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area
Across all employers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, the median wage for Lawyers — about 20,080 people — is $183,350. City of Boston pays a median base salary of $162,372 for this role, 11% below that figure — about the 40th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where City of Boston sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Lawyers 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 City of Boston’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Lawyers — about 754,500 people — is $159,670. City of Boston’s median base salary is 2% above that national figure, about the 51st 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 City of Boston is $164,844, 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
General Counsel pay in other jurisdictions
Where General Counsels are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable General Counsel roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.
Within City of Boston
Departments with this role
Largest City of Boston departments for this role
Departments in City of Boston employing the most people in this role. Each bar links to that department’s page for the role.