Comparing Personnel Compensation Across Texas’ Largest Cities

Overview

This survey calculates the average budgeted personnel cost per employee for Texas’ five largest cities and, to the extent the demarcation of departments was consistent, between comparable departments. The survey uses the latest budgetary data offered from each city, with Houston having recently published its FY 27 budget and all other cities, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio, using FY 26 budgets, due to these cities having later budget cycles. The numbers show that the average budgeted personnel cost for all municipal workers varied by more than $25,000 between the five cities. Adjusting for localized purchasing power differences ultimately reorders which cities offer the highest actual compensation. This survey also shows the public safety departments, defined as police and fire departments, to be at or near the highest average levels of personnel costs, despite wide variance between cities.

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