Yes, mayors generally do get paid, though how much varies more than almost any other elected office in the country. In small towns the job may come with only a token stipend or nothing at all; in the largest cities the salary tops $250,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median of $137,310 for chief executives in local government as of May 2024, but that figure combines mayors with appointed city managers and county administrators, so it sits well above what most elected mayors actually take home.1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Top Executives: Occupational Outlook Handbook
Typical Pay by City Size
Population is the single biggest driver of mayoral compensation, and the pattern is fairly consistent across the country.
In cities under 10,000 residents, mayors commonly earn somewhere between nothing and $10,000 a year. These are part-time positions, often closer to volunteer work with a stipend attached. The mayor might chair a monthly council meeting, cut a few ribbons, and hold a separate full-time job the rest of the week.
Mid-sized cities in the 25,000 to 100,000 range tend to pay their mayors between roughly $25,000 and $75,000, and the position is sometimes still classified as part-time even when the workload creeps past 20 hours a week.
Once a city crosses about 100,000 residents, the mayor’s job is almost always full-time with a salary to match. New York City’s mayor earns over $250,000 annually, and mayors of other large cities pull in well into six figures.
For context on the BLS number: the lowest 10 percent of government chief executives earned less than $73,710, and many small-city mayors fall well below even that floor.1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Top Executives: Occupational Outlook Handbook The upper end of that same category is pulled up by appointed managers, who often out-earn the mayors they work alongside.
Why the Numbers Vary So Much
Job Scope
A mayor overseeing 500,000 residents manages a workforce of thousands and a budget in the billions. A mayor in a town of 3,000 might spend a few hours a week on city business. The pay gap between those two positions reflects the gap in responsibility, and it also reflects whether the city needs to pay enough to pull someone away from a private-sector career.
Strong Mayor vs. Council-Manager
The form of government matters as much as the population. In a strong-mayor system, the mayor acts as chief executive: hiring and firing department heads, preparing the budget, and vetoing legislation. In a council-manager or weak-mayor system, those powers belong to an appointed city manager, and the mayor’s role narrows to presiding over meetings and serving as a public face.
Strong-mayor cities pay more because the job demands more. And in council-manager cities, the appointed manager routinely out-earns the elected mayor, sometimes by a factor of two or three. If you’re wondering why the person you elected earns less than an appointed administrator you may not have heard of, this structural difference is usually the reason.
Regional Cost of Living
Cities in high-cost areas pay their mayors more, just as they pay higher salaries across the rest of the municipal workforce. A mayor’s salary in a coastal metro will look different from the number in a similarly sized city in a lower-cost region, both because the government has to compete for talent and because voters and council members calibrate “reasonable” against local conditions.
Benefits Beyond the Salary
Full-time mayors in mid-sized and large cities usually receive a benefits package similar to other senior municipal employees. Health insurance is the largest piece. State and local government employers cover an average of 87 percent of the premium for single coverage, with the employee paying the remaining 13 percent.2U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 3 – Medical Plans: Share of Premiums Paid by Employer and Employee for Single Coverage Mayors typically enroll in the same plan offered to other city employees on the same terms.
Retirement benefits are common too. Many full-time mayors participate in the city’s public pension system and accrue service credit during their term. Some cities add a deferred compensation option on top.
Expense accounts for travel, official events, and public functions are standard in salaried mayoral positions. Some cities provide a vehicle or a vehicle allowance, and a smaller number offer a housing allowance where the city keeps an official residence. Part-time mayors in small towns rarely receive any of these; the dividing line is usually whether the city treats the position as employment or as an elected role with a stipend.
Taxes on Mayoral Pay
Mayoral compensation is taxable income whether it arrives as a full salary or a small annual stipend. Federal tax law defines “employee” to include any officer or elected official of a state or local government, so the city must withhold federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare from the mayor’s paycheck the same way it does for any other government worker.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 3401 – Definitions The IRS confirms that public officials are government employees in most cases and the employing entity must issue a W-2.4Internal Revenue Service. Tax Withholding for Government Workers
A narrow exception exists for “fee-basis” officials who are paid directly by the public rather than through a government payroll. They’re treated as self-employed and pay self-employment tax instead. This is uncommon for mayors but can turn up in small jurisdictions with unusual compensation structures.4Internal Revenue Service. Tax Withholding for Government Workers
Expense Reimbursements
Whether expense payments are taxable depends on how the city structures them. Under an accountable plan, the mayor must document a business connection for each expense, substantiate it with receipts, and return any excess. Those reimbursements are excluded from gross income and don’t appear on the W-2. Under a nonaccountable plan, where those requirements aren’t met, the payments count as taxable wages subject to withholding.5eCFR. 26 CFR 1.62-2 – Reimbursements and Other Expense Allowance Arrangements
That distinction matters most for part-time mayors who receive a flat “expense stipend” without any substantiation requirement. That money is taxable, and it will show up on the W-2.
Who Sets the Salary
In most municipalities, the city council sets the mayor’s salary by ordinance, with public discussion at council meetings and consideration of the overall budget. Some cities peg the number to a formula: a percentage of the city manager’s salary, a benchmark tied to population, or a fixed relationship to another local official’s pay. Formulas reduce how often the council has to argue about it.
A handful of cities require voter approval for salary changes through a ballot referendum. That gives residents direct control, but it can also freeze pay for years or decades if no measure reaches the ballot. Independent compensation commissions are another route: an appointed panel studies comparable positions and recommends adjustments, putting some distance between the officials who receive a raise and the body that approves it.
Many states also prohibit changing a sitting official’s salary mid-term. The reasoning is straightforward: officials shouldn’t vote themselves an immediate raise, and opponents shouldn’t be able to slash pay as retaliation. The federal version of this principle is the 27th Amendment, which delays congressional pay changes until after an intervening election. State-level equivalents apply to mayors in many places, though some states specifically exempt municipal officers and let cities adjust pay mid-term under home-rule authority.