Mapping Governor's Salary in Every State

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President Trump promised that he would take no salary if elected, and thus far he has donated his compensation to worthy causes. That’s all well and good, but with the 2018 election season heating up, it got us thinking about the differences in compensation for executives at the state level. So we did a little research and created our new map of the governor’s salary for every state in the country.

We used salary figures from Ballotpedia, a website that works to inform voters in a nonpartisan way about how the government operates and what elected officials are doing. We colored each state based on the political affiliation of the governor, then added a photo of the chief executive together with his or her salary. This approach creates a quick snapshot of their compensation, allowing for an easy comparison between states and political parties.

First off, there are a lot more red than blue states on our map simply because Republicans tend to win governorships more often than Democrats. There are a lot of reasons for that, including how many gubernatorial elections happen during off-Presidential election cycles (there are 36 this year). More to the point, listing a salary on a map reveals the stark differences in compensation for governors in states right next to each other. For example, Jerry Brown (D) in California makes $75K more each year than Kate Brown (D) in Oregon. Brian Sandoval (R) in Nevada pulls in $50K more than Doug Ducey (R) next door in Arizona.

Keep in mind governors serve four-year terms, which makes the discrepancies that much more significant over time. OK, governors in Vermont and New Hampshire only serve two-year terms, but here’s the point. Let’s take the most extreme example. The highest paid governor in the country is Tom Wolf (D) from Pennsylvania, who pulls in an impressive $187,818 each year. That’s good work if you can get it. The lowest is Paul LePage (R) in Maine, who only makes a measly $70,000. Think about that—after four years, Wolf will make $471,272 more than LePage. Pennsylvania is a lot different than Maine, but they have the same job. An annual salary of $70K is certainly quite low for a governor, but it’s still quite a bit higher than the median income in the U.S., so let’s not shed too many tears for LePage.

Another way to analyze the data is by making partisan comparison between Republicans and Democrats, and to make things fair, let’s compare the two groups by looking at averages. The average Democratic governor’s salary is $146,221 compared to $128,327 on the Republican side. As a matter of fact, 7 out of the 10 highest paid governors are Democrats, even though there are just 16 Democratic governors in the country compared to 33 Republicans (Gov. Bill Walker from Alaska is the lone independent).

1. Pennsylvania: Tom Wolf (D) at $187,818

2. Tennessee: Bill Haslam (R) at $181,980

3. New York: Andrew Cuomo (D) at $179,000

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4. Illinois: Bruce Rauner (R) at $177,412

5. New Jersey: Phil Murphy (D) at $175,000

6. Virginia: Ralph Northam (D) at $175,000

7. California: Jerry Brown (D) at $173,987

8. Delaware: John Carney (D) at $171,000

9. Washington: Jay Inslee (D) at $166,891

10. Michigan: Rick Snyder (R) at $159,300

For whatever reason, Democratic governors are comparatively more expensive for taxpayers than Republicans. We will leave it to you to draw your own conclusions about exactly why.

Data: Table 1.1

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1 thought on “Mapping Governor's Salary in Every State”

  1. The Banker King over there in England needs the Political Suits, the Judges and lawyers, the Police and the Military; Governors are Politicians in Suits so their pay reflects the King’s need of them.
    I guess with the people of Maine, Maine never really left merry old England so the King feels no need to spend extra money holding them to England and the Federal Reserve, heck, they take care of that themselves.
    Those whom the King and his chosen few need are well paid, the rest of us left to fight over the scraps. Except the Police are rewarded far above what we easily know about, good wages, great health and welfare, million dollar pensions, many of them pay off after just ten years.
    If, the King did not take really good care of his Police, seeing to it the Police have all the latest technology and toys, this is not done to hold the Politicians and the Judges to the Constitution and Bill of Rights 1776. Nope, this is done to ensure the Police will hurt and steal from the citizens, whenever they are told to, as bad as they are told to do, this the King must have secured before he can destroy a nation or any people.
    If you have the Media and the Police on your side, of any issue, then you can win, then you will always win. Think not that the Judge is the end of it, nope, it is the Police Person who is the end of it, when, they decide that’s the way it is going to be. No nation, no person, can stand against those who are known as the Law. These, always, have to be bought off.
    Judge(s) will never concern themselves with right or wrong, good or bad, legal or illegal. The Judge(s) works for The United States Company, 1871, not, The United States of America, 1776.
    More than the Politician, the Military or the Police, the Judge(s) works directly for the Company, a Rothschild’s invention, a Rothschild Corporation. For, every decision made in the Gold Fringe Flag’ged Court Rooms wherein a Judge presides is a decision that af-fects the Company, thereby the King, The Lord Rothschild, head of the Family. Any kind of legal decision made in any nation wherein the King’s Banking Cartel has an interest is examined with a well-paid, fine tooth comb, examined by one of the Chosen, to be sure the grip on the throat of the people is never slackened.
    Any decision declaring people have rights or laws to protect them, is drawn and quartered, the guts removed, an empty shell left. Until, in the end, we will be cattle, nothing but cattle, delivered to the Abattoir, useless eater’s, worthless, costing the filthy rich and their children a fortune or so they tell us.
    More than any Politician or General, the Judge(s) and their Police, are most important to us, to our nations, to the truth and freedom we so much desire. The selections of Police and Judges is most important to us and our nation, having been misled by the Press we have allowed the King to load the Courts and control the Police. This will be our most grievous error.

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