The median full-time New York City city-government employee earned $95,373 in base pay (2025 payroll, in 2026 dollars) against a private-sector median of $78,223 in the metro, a gap of +22%. At the 90th percentile, city pay was $145,835 against $229,082 privately (-36%).
By domain, city pay trails the private sector most in Finance (-35%), Legal (-22%), and Healthcare (-17%) and leads in Protective service (+144%) and Skilled trades (+71%). The payroll file covers 287,899 employees; 70.7% of titles map to a domain.
New York City city pay by occupation domain
| Occupation domain | City median | Private median (metro) | Gap at median | City 90th pct | Private 90th pct | Gap at 90th | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All occupations | $95,373 | $78,223 | +22% | $145,835 | $229,082 | -36% | 287,899 |
| Admin and clerical | $74,996 | $55,874 | +34% | $152,185 | $111,747 | +36% | 39,513 |
| Education | $110,685 | $72,636 | +52% | $145,835 | $141,050 | +3% | 83,906 |
| Engineering | $111,724 | $111,747 | 0% | $183,121 | $207,906 | -12% | 2,009 |
| Finance | $94,076 | $145,272 | -35% | $160,656 | $509,323 | -69% | 1,913 |
| Healthcare | $83,193 | $100,573 | -17% | $92,026 | $226,120 | -59% | 8,745 |
| Legal | $131,105 | $167,621 | -22% | $204,273 | $860,455 | -76% | 5,094 |
| Management | $126,006 | $128,509 | -2% | $192,294 | $335,242 | -43% | 9,253 |
| Protective service | $109,070 | $44,699 | +144% | $113,433 | $95,456 | +19% | 41,354 |
| Skilled trades | $95,530 | $55,874 | +71% | $95,530 | $111,747 | -15% | 7,473 |
| Software and IT | $127,885 | $145,272 | -12% | $183,687 | $323,968 | -43% | 4,188 |