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Jurisdiction file

City of Charlotte employee salaries and total compensation

Source file: City of Charlotte — Employee Pay / ingested Jun 19, 2026

In 2026, City of Charlotte reported 8,539 employees across 115 departments, with a total payroll of $733.3M. The highest-paid distinct record was Marcus Jones (City Manager - Administration) at $499,210.

Latest year
2026
Employees
8,539
Average pay
$85,873
Mean total compensation
Total payroll
$733.3M
Departments
115
Top record
$499,210

What the records show

Department analytics

Median pay and headcount show where payroll dollars concentrate and which agencies define the jurisdiction’s compensation profile.

Largest departments

The 12 departments employing the most people in 2026. Bar length is headcount. These departments drive most of the payroll and set the overall pay mix.

Highest-paying departments

Departments ranked by median total compensation — the typical employee's pay. High medians usually signal specialized or professional workforces (e.g. medical, legal, or public-safety agencies) rather than across-the-board higher pay.

Compared with the local labor market

City of Charlotte pay vs. the surrounding job market

Across 48 roles that match a standard occupation, City of Charlotte’s median base salary runs 38% above the median wage for the same work in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC. 30 of those roles pay above the local median and 18 pay below it.

Roles compared
48
Above local median
30
Below local median
18
Typical gap
+38%

This covers the 2,979 employees (35% of the workforce) in roles whose job titles map to a standard occupation. Titles that are too generic to match one — broad classification series, and job families the survey reports by academic field — are left out rather than guessed at, so the figure describes the comparable subset, not the entire payroll.

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.

Department index

Open an agency file

Department pages break down pay distributions, common job titles, and the employees behind the latest published payroll.

115 departments

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Patrol Services Group1,292$87,360
Charlotte Fire Department, Operations1,079$87,975
Air Operations416$62,358
Charlotte Water Field Operations371$61,069
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Support Services Group310$73,008
Charlotte Area Transit System, Rail Operations267$76,891
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Special Services Group259$76,960
Air Facilities224$81,770
Solid Waste Services, Operations, Collections171$60,847
Charlotte Department of Transportation, Street Maintenance164$58,225
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Investigative Services Group154$91,886
Charlotte Water Engineering148$86,726
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Administrative Services Group144$65,460
Charlotte Water Emd128$75,611
Charlotte Area Transit System, Bus Operations128$57,886
Charlotte Water Administration126$102,163
General Services, Main Engineering125$93,852
General Services, Fleet Management122$77,884
Charlotte Water, Customer Service117$57,034
Charlotte Department of Transportation, Engineering and Operations106$73,948
Charmeck 31198$56,805
Animal Care and Control88$54,152
Solid Waste Services, Operations, Special Service86$58,402
Charlotte Fire Department, Aviation83$101,171
Air Administration73$89,363
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Office of the Chief72$81,734
Charlotte Water Maintenance71$74,506
Technology Communication Service67$94,815
Housing and Neighborhood Services, Code Enforcement64$73,060
Marketcomm Custsvc & Technician63$82,226
Storm Water Services, Engineering and Design61$106,002
Charlotte Water-Wt58$69,677
Charlotte Fire Department, Prevention57$82,451
General Services, Landscape Management57$71,163
Storm Water Services, Construction and Utilities57$82,389
Storm Water Services, Regulatory56$90,391
Technology Operations54$112,714
Procurement Management52$92,498
Air Technology51$115,705
Storm Water Services, Strategic Planning49$87,900
Charlotte Water-Lab Services48$76,628
City Attorney48$145,000
Air Development48$112,344
Land Development45$81,534
Enterprise Application Management40$120,034
Cats Executive and Administrat40$89,854
General Services, Buildings, Spratt Street39$92,352
Charlotte Department of Transportation, Development Services37$91,300
Human Resources, Executive Administration35$101,066
Charlotte Fire Department, Communications34$68,682
Air Business33$96,300
Charlotte Fire Department, Administration33$86,840
Modeling, Analysis, & Design31$110,302
Charlotte Area Transit System, Transit Development30$109,717
Air - Compliance Services30$89,093
Charlotte Communications29$88,116
Solid Waste Services, Director's Office28$73,757
Charlotte Area Transit System, Safety and Security27$100,798
Storm Water Services, Business25$88,967
Finance Risk Management24$84,197
Housing and Neighborhood Services, Housing Services22$79,731
Air Finance21$95,401
Innovation & Experience21$94,592
Finance Financial Reporting21$84,357
Finance Financial Services20$65,146
Charlotte Area Transit System, Training Operations20$92,350
Economic Development20$97,471
Pplorgdev,Civrghts,&Sustgovaff19$81,026
Human Resources, Systems and Services Integration18$98,809
Community Tree Canopy Preservation (CTCP)18$82,283
Long Range Planning18$95,324
Community Relations, Administration17$75,449
General Services, Real Estate17$87,216
Charlotte Area Transit System, Transportation Services17$83,319
Technology Business Services16$111,331
Charlotte Area Transit System, Planning and Special Operations16$82,576
Finance Revenue16$63,232
Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (Crtpo)15$93,618
Charlotte Fire Department, Training15$123,325
General Services, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center14$75,421
Strategy & Budget14$118,449
Charlotte Fire Department, Logistics14$67,415
Entitlement Services14$97,457
Housing and Neighborhood Services, Community Engagement13$78,111
Business Engagement Services13$131,103
Center for Data & Analytics13$112,350
Design & Preservation13$91,960
Air - Strategy13$92,000
Mobility Planning Division12$91,076
Business & Executive Services12$97,422
Office of Youth Opportunity12$77,268
Charlotte Department of Transportation, Administrative12$109,758
Housing and Neighborhood Services, Administration, Director's Office11$114,113
Charlotte Fire Department, Investigations/Education11$95,014
City Manager - Administration11$269,363
City Clerk10$74,870
Internal Audit10$108,495
Solid Waste Services, Contracted Services9$66,914
Charlotte Business Inclusion9$79,256
Housing and Neighborhood Services, Business Support9$91,000
Solid Waste Services, Administration8$90,492
Human Resources, Organizational Development and Learning8$94,231
Charlotte Fire Department, Emergency Management8$85,833
Finance Internal Control8$113,261
Workforce Development6$94,948
Finance Treasury6$114,277
Finance Administration5$103,798
Sustainability5$101,000
Solid Waste Services, Operations Overhead4$91,238
Finance Firefighters Ret4$76,188
Asset Recovery and Disposal2$74,693
Americans with Disabilitiesact2$81,994
Housing and Neighborhood Services, Zoning Enforcement2$72,735
Human Resources, Management and Strategy Integration2$74,708
Strategic Mobility1$247,095