California Public Salaries Reveal SF, SC, LA Counties On Top

CAMPBELL, CA -- If you're a public employee wanting to gauge where to live to get the most bang for the buck, the metro areas are the place to be. To no surprise, Los Angeles was on top of the world in terms of total wages paid out in 2017 to county staffers -- $8.5 billion and change.

But of the San Francisco Bay Area that consists of nine counties, "The City" boasts having the biggest paychecks collectively last year with $3.5 billion going to its employees, with U.C. San Francisco second, according to the California State Controllers Office's 2017 report released last week.

The county serving the Silicon Valley, Santa Clara, was in third place with salaries for its employees adding up to $1.9 billion. The city of San Jose was the second highest in that county with $612 million -- about as much as what San Mateo County's paid its employees, a figure adding up to $586 million. Redwood City has doled out $74 million.

If you think we're talking about a lot of money, consider the greenbacks divvied up in retirement and health contributions. In Santa Clara County, this local jurisdiction placed $582 million in the coffers for employees to live comfortably long term. San Mateo put in about $242 million.

Managers for California's 58 counties and the cities within have long decried, warned and worried about the effect of retirement benefits strangling their budgets as their workers age. Some local governments have dramatically changed their benefit plans to appease the unions, staffers and citizens they serve. It's a difficult balancing act when they also face crumbling infrastructure, ambitious plans and other expenses siphoning off the general fund, the account that pays the salaries.

When it comes to the here and now, here's how the top employers of the counties in the Association of Bay Area Governments ranked in 2017:

• Alameda - $1.2 billion paid out to U.C. Berkeley employees
• Sonoma - $368 million paid out to county employees
• Solano - $229 million paid out to county employees
• Marin - $219 million paid out to county employees
• Contra Costa - $137 million paid out to Community College District employees
• Napa - $122 million paid out to county employees

The tenth county south of the Bay Area -- Santa Cruz -- doled out $343 million to U.C. Santa Cruz staffers.

For more information, visit https://publicpay.ca.gov/.

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