The median full-time San Francisco city-government employee earned $112,092 in base pay (2025 payroll, in 2026 dollars) against a private-sector median of $139,684 in the metro, a gap of -20%. At the 90th percentile, city pay was $193,796 against $353,258 privately (-45%).
By domain, city pay trails the private sector most in Software and IT (-45%), Legal (-10%), and Management (0%) and leads in Admin and clerical (+53%) and Education (+40%). The payroll file covers 39,569 employees; 66.5% of titles map to a domain.
San Francisco 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 | $112,092 | $139,684 | -20% | $193,796 | $353,258 | -45% | 39,569 |
| Admin and clerical | $102,426 | $67,048 | +53% | $164,152 | $199,923 | -18% | 8,997 |
| Education | $116,723 | $83,540 | +40% | $138,184 | $156,446 | -12% | 296 |
| Engineering | $175,726 | $173,791 | +1% | $220,097 | $334,539 | -34% | 1,249 |
| Finance | $147,760 | $136,094 | +9% | $185,604 | $391,116 | -53% | 462 |
| Healthcare | $134,851 | $134,577 | 0% | $225,287 | $335,242 | -33% | 4,721 |
| Legal | $226,500 | $251,432 | -10% | $272,231 | $764,352 | -64% | 506 |
| Management | $194,745 | $195,558 | 0% | $252,700 | $446,989 | -44% | 1,806 |
| Protective service | $144,272 | no private comparator | $174,030 | 4,917 | |||
| Skilled trades | $96,602 | no private comparator | $153,686 | 3,296 | |||
| Software and IT | $122,201 | $223,495 | -45% | $156,118 | $446,989 | -65% | 53 |