Jurisdiction file
City of Milwaukee employee salaries and total compensation
In 2025, City of Milwaukee reported 9,003 employees across 64 departments, with a total payroll of $588.5M. The highest-paid distinct record was David Silber (Employe's Retirement System) at $299,691.
- Latest year
- 2025
- Employees
- 9,003
- Average pay
- $65,368
- Mean total compensation
- Total payroll
- $588.5M
- Departments
- 64
- Top record
- $299,691
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 2025. 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.
Trend
Year over year
How City of Milwaukee's total payroll, headcount, and average pay changed across the 7 published years. Average pay is total payroll divided by employees.
| Year | Total payroll | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $472M — | 7,721 — | $61,131 — |
| 2020 | $471M ▼ 0.2% | 7,675 ▼ 0.6% | $61,371 ▲ 0.4% |
| 2021 | $453.5M ▼ 3.7% | 8,586 ▲ 11.9% | $52,818 ▼ 13.9% |
| 2022 | $472.3M ▲ 4.2% | 9,752 ▲ 13.6% | $48,433 ▼ 8.3% |
| 2023 | $477.8M ▲ 1.2% | 8,448 ▼ 13.4% | $56,560 ▲ 16.8% |
| 2024 | $540.6M ▲ 13.1% | 9,824 ▲ 16.3% | $55,032 ▼ 2.7% |
| 2025 | $588.5M ▲ 8.9% | 9,003 ▼ 8.4% | $65,368 ▲ 18.8% |
Department index
Open an agency file
Department pages break down pay distributions, common job titles, and the employees behind the latest published payroll.
64 departments