Salary Surveys

2021 Salary Survey

POPULATIONLOCALITYSALARYCONTRACTPOSITIONSTATUSNUMBER OF ATTORNEYSYEARS PRACTICING
A. Under 1900Town$10,000NoChief CounselPart-time140
B. 1,900 – 6,000Town$0NoChief CounselPart-time114
C. 6,001 – 10,000County$91,808YesChief CounselFull-time111
C. 6,001 – 10,000Town$91,000NoChief CounselFull-time120
D. 10,001 – 15,000Town$100,000YesChief CounselPart-time229
D. 10,001 – 15,000County$150,000NoChief CounselPart-time138
E. 15,001 – 20,000City$167,800YesChief CounselFull-time134.5
E. 15,001 – 20,000County$171,469YesChief CounselFull-time139
E. 15,001 – 20,000Town$130,000YesChief CounselFull-time245
E. 15,001 – 20,000County$113,000YesChief CounselFull-time117
F. 20,000 – 25,000County$164,800YesChief CounselFull-time231
F. 20,000 – 25,000Town$180,000YesChief CounselFull-time234
F. 20,000 – 25,000County$200YesChief CounselPart-time421
G. 25,001 – 35,000County$125,158YesChief CounselFull-time211
G. 25,001 – 35,000City$170,000YesChief CounselFull-time122
G. 25,001 – 35,000County$75,259NoSenior AssistantFull-time16
G. 25,001 – 35,000City$159,339YesChief CounselFull-time236
G. 25,001 – 35,000County$149,500YesChief CounselFull-time131
H. 35,001 – 75,000City$82,400NoAssistantFull-time711
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$122,000NoDeputyFull-time323
H. 35,001 – 75,000City$100,539NoDeputyFull-time315
H. 35,001 – 75,000Town$19,000YesChief CounselFull-time334
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$138,188YesChief CounselFull-time118
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$83,000NoAssistantFull-time35
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$121,000NoDeputyFull-time322
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$116,000YesChief CounselFull-time131
H. 35,001 – 75,000Town$95,000NoAssistantFull-time37
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$119,646YesChief CounselFull-time212
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$95,000NoDeputyFull-time37
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$139,000NoChief CounselFull-time134
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$119,000NoChief CounselFull-time130
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$164,800YesChief CounselFull-time424
H. 35,001 – 75,000County$0NoSenior AssistantPart-time230
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$95,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time69
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$87,500NoAssistantFull-time76
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$81,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time28
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$164,986YesChief CounselFull-time318
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$75,000NoAssistantFull-time113
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$107,972NoAssistantFull-time511
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$146,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time1337
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$86,500NoSenior AssistantFull-time125
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$117,000NoDeputyFull-time417
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$84,000NoAssistantFull-time62
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$115,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time610
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$110,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time631
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$134,325NoDeputyFull-time627
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$108,120NoSenior AssistantFull-time621
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$190,715YesChief CounselFull-time519
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$208,035YesChief CounselFull-time229
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$215,000YesChief CounselFull-time612
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$129,300NoDeputyFull-time1015
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$114,412NoDeputyFull-time616
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$76,484NoAssistantFull-time113
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$80,000NoAssistantFull-time67
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$89,115NoAssistantFull-time49
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$80,340NoAssistantFull-time65
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$99,700NoDeputyFull-time1125
I. 70,001 – 180,000County$121,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time519
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$93,000NoAssistantFull-time414
I. 70,001 – 180,000City$64,500NoAssistantFull-time46
J. 180,001 or moreCity$79,000YesAssistantFull-time166
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$113,000NoAssistantFull-time4510
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$105,000NoAssistantFull-time97
J. 180,001 or moreCity$99,500NoAssistantFull-time128
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$189,400NoDeputyFull-time1536
J. 180,001 or moreCity$159,636NoDeputyFull-time2323
J. 180,001 or moreCity$121,000NoAssistantFull-time2228
J. 180,001 or moreCity$126,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time2513
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$181,470NoDeputyFull-time1521
J. 180,001 or moreCity$120,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time2421
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$191,771NoDeputyFull-time1834
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$148,000NoDeputyFull-time621
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$113,000NoAssistantFull-time407
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$118,276NoSenior AssistantFull-time97
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$72,000NoAssistantFull-time81
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$155,257NoDeputyFull-time934
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$282,000NoChief CounselFull-time1830
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$242,000NoChief CounselFull-time1441
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$241,177NoChief CounselFull-time943
J. 180,001 or moreCity$160,635NoDeputyFull-time2526
J. 180,001 or moreCity$75,300NoChief CounselFull-time120
J. 180,001 or moreCity$99,000NoAssistantFull-time2513
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$178,000NoDeputyFull-time1627
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$149,000NoAssistantFull-time1525
J. 180,001 or moreCity$88,871NoAssistantFull-time207
J. 180,001 or moreCity$97,000YesAssistantFull-time136
J. 180,001 or moreCity$77,000NoAssistantFull-time105
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$89,500NoAssistantFull-time147.5
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$133,000NoSenior AssistantFull-time1418
J. 180,001 or moreCounty$110,000NoAssistantFull-time1314
J. 180,001 or moreCity$135,883NoDeputyFull-time1524
J. 180,001 or moreCity$115,000NoDeputyFull-time1513
J. 180,001 or moreCity$89,900NoAssistantFull-time1910
J. 180,001 or moreCity$165,010NoChief CounselFull-time1822

2015 Salary Survey

There are two ways to review the results:
  • Results by category. The first document includes a summary for each type of locality and one for private practice attorneys. These summaries provide a spreadsheet of some of the most basic information for each category.
  • The comprehensive Excel spreadsheet. This spreadsheet includes all the data as downloaded directly from Survey Monkey. This spreadsheet allows one to sort the data in the format of most interest to the viewer.
Overall comments:

The results were never intended to be scientifically defensible, but they do give a ballpark idea of compensation throughout the Commonwealth for local government attorneys. LGA membership was outstanding in its participation with 169 members taking the survey. Some of the participants, however, did not complete the entire survey. Many of whom did not fill in the figures for their compensation. Therefore, the attached tables, which report only the surveys that were completed in their entirety, include less than 169 data sets in total. However, the response greatly exceeded efforts from previous years which only reflected responses from 30 to 40 respondents.

It was learned that the form of some of the questions resulted in unwieldy data reporting, as you will see if you look at the Excel spreadsheet. Also, Survey Monkey’s bar graph method of reporting results is not conducive to the type of correlative data analysis that is useful for interpretation of this survey data. Finally, the Excel spreadsheet included some “responses” that were not consistent with the choices available on the multiple choice questions. These inconsistencies show dates (e.g., 6/15/15) when the response should have been a choice of range of years of practice (e.g., 6-10). However, it is a first step, and we will with some degree of luck and insight hope to improve the survey for future years.

2015 LGA Salary Survey Results by Category

2015 LGA Salary Survey Full-Time Employment Only

2015 LGA Salary Survey Comprehensive Spreadsheet

2009 Salary Survey

2009 LGA Salary Survey—sorted by locality

2009 LGA Salary Survey—sorted by population

2009 LGA Salary Survey—sorted by salary