The ‘A to T’ of County Government Salaries

A survey of county government salaries reveals the breadth of services Maryland counties provide residents.

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There may be a county service for every letter in the alphabet. Q? Perhaps not. But the county Help Desk staff answer q’s all day long, and their salaries are listed in MACo’s Annual Survey.

The annual salary survey includes county jobs from A to T, that is to say, from Departments of Aging to Tourism Offices.

While some seek out the salary survey each year as a tool for comparing their salaries with those working in a county across the street, or a county across the Bay, as the MACo staff person who has compiled the survey for several years, it serves me as a reminder of the sheer breadth of county services.

There are 127 positions captured in this year’s salary survey. Along with the salaries of county elected officials, here are a few of the departments and offices represented:

  • Aging
  • Budget
  • Economic Development
  • Emergency Management
  • Finance
  • Housing
  • Human Services/Local Management Boards
  • Information Technology/GIS
  • Parks and Recreation
  • Permits/Inspections/Licenses
  • Planning and Zoning
  • Public Works
  • Public Safety, 9-1-1, Police/Sheriff, Fire, EMT, Animal Control
  • Tourism

Making comparisons between salaries is always difficult. While this survey provides space for human resources officers to share where the duties of their particular comparative position differ, differences are not always easy to capture without a full position description.

Next year, the Maryland Association of County Human Resources Officers, a MACo Affiliate, plans to use software to record and report more nuanced information, including recording employees’ years of service and reporting standard salary deviations across regions. I welcome any input on this survey and how it may be improved as we transition to a new system.

For stronger comparisons of county salaries this year, read the MACo salary survey alongside MACo’s accompanying surveys of county government pensions and health benefits. All will be posted on MACo’s website, and may also be accessed here:

MACo’s Fiscal Year 2019 Salary Survey

MACo’s Fiscal Year 2019 Health Benefits Survey

MACo’s Fiscal Year 2019 Pension Benefits Survey