Politics & Government
City Of Murrieta's Payroll Exceeded $65 Million In 2025, State Records Show
The number of city employees on the payroll last year stood at 531.
MURRIETA, CA — Murrieta spent more than $65 million on city employee wages in 2025, according to a report released Tuesday by the California State Controller's Office.
The annual report is released to enhance government transparency and provide a single, publicly accessible statewide database.
According to the report, $65,512,922 in wages were paid out in Murrieta last year, with the 10 highest earning officials being:
- Fire division chief: $464,454
- Fire battalion chief: $390,924
- Deputy fire chief: $384,949
- City manager: $367,769
- Police chief: $350,011
- Director of public works/city engineer: $347,864
- Fire captain: $338,706
- Police captain: $329,786
- Assistant city manager: $329,392
- Fire engineer: $327,293
Murrieta does not contract with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department or Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department for public safety services.
The number of city employees on the payroll in 2025 stood at 531, with the average wage at $123,377, according to the report.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city of Murrieta's population to be 114,124 as of July 1, 2025.
Wage amounts documented by the controller's office include base pay, overtime and lump sum disbursals, which are often tied to banked vacation and sick leave time that went unused, sometimes for years, then cashed out. The full data is available at publicpay.ca.gov.
Elected Murrieta city council members are compensated but are not classified as city employees. According to the state controller's report, the council members' pay was $18,449 each in 2025.
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