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Jurisdiction file

City of Philadelphia employee compensation

Source file: City of Philadelphia — Employee Earnings / ingested Jun 19, 2026

In 2026, City of Philadelphia reported 32,410 employees across 52 departments, with a total payroll of $698.5M. The highest-paid distinct record was Laurence Nodiff (PPD Police) at $574,239.

Latest year
2026
Total payroll
$698.5M
Departments
52
Employees
32,410
Top record
$574,239

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 Philadelphia pay vs. the surrounding job market

Across 27 roles that match a standard occupation, City of Philadelphia’s median base salary runs 76% below the median wage for the same work in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD. 0 of those roles pay above the local median and 27 pay below it.

Roles compared
27
Above local median
0
Below local median
27
Typical gap
−76%

This covers the 941 employees (3% 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.

Trend

Year over year

How City of Philadelphia's total payroll, headcount, and average pay changed across the 8 published years. Average pay is total payroll divided by employees.

YearTotal payrollEmployeesAverage pay
2019
$1.7B
34,928
$48,657
2020
$2.4B
40.0%
33,553
3.9%
$70,893
45.7%
2021
$2.3B
5.4%
32,947
1.8%
$68,315
3.6%
2022
$2.4B
4.7%
33,085
0.4%
$71,241
4.3%
2023
$1.7B
26.2%
33,126
0.1%
$52,522
26.3%
2024
$2.7B
52.8%
34,945
5.5%
$76,091
44.9%
2025
$2.8B
6.9%
36,546
4.6%
$77,787
2.2%
2026
$698.5M
75.4%
32,410
11.3%
$21,553
72.3%

Department index

Open an agency file

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

52 departments

PPD Police6,545$27,267
Pfd Fire2,980$33,557
Fjd 1St Judicial District PA2,324$15,011
Pwd Water2,308$20,746
San Sanitation1,984$15,564
Pps Prisons1,840$19,950
Sts Streets1,671$5,065
DHS Department of Human Services1,416$19,332
Ppr Parks and Recreation1,250$13,086
Flp Free Library of Phila1,068$14,408
Mdo Managing Director Office1,027$16,495
Dph Health950$17,444
Phl Department of Aviation920$17,748
Dao District Attorney718$18,583
Oit Office of Innovation and Technician602$20,690
Rev Revenue535$12,560
Law Law Department398$19,888
Shf Sheriff396$18,923
Lni Licenses and Inspections392$16,291
Dfs Department of Fleet Services370$22,182
Pcc City Council288$15,359
Dbh Behav Health Id Services282$19,855
Finance Finance234$21,005
Cms City Commissioners182$11,670
Opa Office of Property Assessment171$18,923
Ohr Office of Human Resources159$11,032
Clr City Controller142$17,812
Osh Office of Homeless Services140$16,573
Dpd Planning and Development133$19,513
Dpp Public Property124$18,237
Cao Office of Chief Administrative Officer103$16,082
May Mayor102$22,058
Moe Mayors Office of Education85$17,047
Row Register of Wills84$14,151
Ceo Community Empowerment Office72$15,918
Recreation Records54$13,312
Olr Office of Labor51$16,970
Bpr Board of Pensions Retiremt45$12,314
Chr Phila Comsn on Hum Relatns44$14,289
Pro Procurement39$18,862
Nca Neighbhd Commnty Actn Ctrs29$14,138
Mos Office of Sustainability29$19,931
Oig Office of Inspector General22$19,228
Cto City Treasurer20$19,023
Brt Board of Revision of Taxes20$12,007
Com Commerce14$19,647
BOE Board of Ethics13$23,449
Lrb L and I Review Board10$2,125
Oac Office Arts Culture Creative8$17,084
Map Mural Arts Program8$11,204
Csc Civil Service Commission5$4,000
Bbs Board of Buildng Standards4$1,020