Westchester municipal salaries top the state

Westchester County pays county employees more than any county in the state, according to a new report from the Albany-based Empire Center.

The group released its annual “What They Make” report Wednesday, with Westchester County employees shown to get larger paychecks than employees in any county in New York outside of New York City. Police and fire staff were in a separate category than other municipal government workers.

Westchester has 269 police and fire jobs, which pay an average of $184,865 ”“ well above Nassau County, which ranked second with an average of $157,632. Government employees in Westchester received an average salary of $76,652, which was nearly $10,000 more than Suffolk, which had the second-highest county average.

Government salaries of local towns, villages and cities also stood out. The highest-paid city government employees in the state were all in Westchester communities ”“ with Yonkers, New Rochelle, Peekskill, Rye and White Plains making up the top 5 with salary averages ranging from $61,129 to $70,319. Police and fire employees in Yonkers, Rye and Peekskill made an average of $116,959, $116,917 and 112,154, which were third, fourth and fifth in the state.

Ramapo led towns in both government and police and fire salaries, $72,264 and $164,847 on average. Harrison and Cortlandt made the top five in most-expensive government salaries for towns, with Harrison ranking third with a $66,403 average and Cortlandt ranking fifth with $61,970 on average. Mount Kisco had the fifth-best paid police and fire staff, with an average of $138,927.

The statistics do not include fringe costs or benefits.