Nearly 500 local government employees in New York earned more than $300,000 last year — most of them police officers on Long Island, where public safety pay continues to dominate local budgets.
The latest “What They Make” report from the Empire Center found 475 employees outside New York City reached that $300,000 mark during the 2024–25 fiscal year. Of those, 363 worked for local governments in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The top earner was Curt Beaudry, a Nassau County police official, who made $418,022. A Nassau County correction officer, Enrique Sewer, wasn’t far behind with $378,238.
Pay far above the governor’s salary
A total of 1,700 local workers were paid more than Governor Kathy Hochul’s $250,000 salary. That figure includes not just base pay, but also overtime and payouts for unused vacation or sick time.
Pension contributions, health insurance, and other benefits weren’t included — but those extras can raise total compensation by more than 35%.
Empire Center researchers pulled the data from the New York State and Local Retirement System. The report includes employees actively enrolled in the pension system as of March 2025.
Long Island leads in high salaries
Long Island once again topped the list for public pay. Nassau County workers averaged $120,420 — a 9% jump from the previous year. Suffolk County wasn’t far behind at $101,119.
In both counties, six-figure salaries were common. More than half of Nassau’s workforce earned over $100,000, and in Suffolk, that number was just under 40%.
The Village of Oyster Bay Cove — a wealthy North Shore community — had the highest average pay for any local government, at $198,264. All 14 of its employees were police officers.
Police and fire dominate top earnings
Police and fire officials made up 71 of the top 100 highest-paid local government employees in the state. The rest were correction officers — including 46 in Nassau County alone who made over $300,000. That’s a huge leap from just 3 the year before.
Nassau’s 731 correction officers were the highest paid of any county, averaging $151,568 — up 20% from last year. Statewide, 68 correction officers earned over $300,000, compared to only 11 the previous year.
Even smaller departments had big paydays. The six-member police force in the Village of Kensington led the state with an average salary of $256,715. Nearby villages like Lake Success, Sands Point, and Great Neck Estates also averaged over $200,000.
Some worked for multiple local governments
More than 5,500 individuals collected pay from two or more local governments during the year. Most of those employees held part-time roles, such as assessors or attorneys. But 101 of them still made over $200,000 combined.
One of the highest-paid among them was Kathleen Gill, who earned $428,116 while working for both the City of New Rochelle and the Village of Mamaroneck.
Full transparency, going back years
The “What They Make” database is part of SeeThroughNY.net, Empire Center’s transparency website. It includes searchable pay records going back to 2008 for hundreds of thousands of local employees statewide.
The 2025 update covers nearly 178,000 workers across 1,500 local governments. All told, they were paid $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
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