PORTLAND, Ore. — The highest-paid workers employed by the Portland area's five largest cities pull in hefty paychecks that, while paling next to many of their private-sector counterparts, still provide more-than ample livings.
For instance, in Portland, the highest paid municipal workers make nearly three times the city's median income, which is $86,771. The highest-paid worker on our top-paid city workers' list — you can learn those employees' identities by clicking on the slide above — collects nearly five times the $55,000-plus that the median resident in his city earns.
The roster of highest-paid city employees includes a healthy complement of attorneys, police chiefs and fire chiefs. We based the rankings on the workers' base salaries.
To assemble the city paychecks list, we only included those who work for the Portland region's five largest cities: Portland, Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro and Vancouver.
The list, which includes ties, counts 48 workers who collect paychecks from the city of Portland, six from Vancouver, three from Beaverton, two from Gresham and one from the city of Hillsboro.
The average pay of the 1,464 city of Portland workers who make more than $100,00, for 2019, is $119,268. Workers in Gresham in the same category average $121,818 a year while six-figure-earning Beaverton city employees make an average of $120,298 per year. Those in the same category in Hillsboro make $116,437 each year.
This story is part of our Public Paychecks series, which runs this week and next. Yesterday, we published a piece detailing the state of Oregon's highest-paid workers. Check back soon for stories on those who earn the most at the county and Metro levels.
Portland Business Journal is a KGW News partner.
