The Highest-Paid Public Employees in Every State

It’s no secret that football and basketball coaches at public universities command high salaries, but there are other public employees who get paid almost as handsomely as these collegiate coaches. You might not be aware of exactly how high their salaries can go — some of these public employees are millionaires many times over.

To determine the highest-paid public employee in each state, GOBankingRates analyzed data from USA Today’s 2018 NCAA salary reports and OpenTheBooks.com, and ranked employees by their total 2018 pay. Some of these people have since been removed from their positions; however, the information is accurate as of 2018.

Out of all the highest-paid public employees on this list, 29 held head football coach positions, and most pulled down a hefty annual salary of $1 million or more. Only three head football coaches earned salaries that fell below the $1 million mark. Although football coaches claim the greatest number of spots in this study, not a single basketball coach on the list earned less than $1 million in 2018. In fact, a collegiate basketball coach takes the top spot, bringing home a staggering annual salary that exceeded $9 million.

The other highest-paid public employees on GOBankingRates’ list include university presidents, a medical college dean, a superintendent of schools and a staff surgeon, all of whom earned less than $1 million in 2018. Even so, these pubic employees still collected sizable salaries, ranging from $231,210 to $876,442 per year.

• Name: Nick Saban
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Alabama
• Total pay in 2018: $8,307,000

• Name: James Roland Johnsen
• Job title: President
• Employer: University of Alaska Statewide System
• Total pay in 2018: $384,599.99

• Name: Sean Miller
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: University of Arizona
• Total pay in 2018: $2,700,000

• Name: Chad Morris
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Arkansas
• Total pay in 2018: $3,500,000

• Name: Chip Kelly
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of California, Los Angeles
• Total pay in 2018: $3,300,000

• Name: Mike MacIntyre
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Colorado Boulder
• Total pay in 2018: $2,878,500

• Name: Randy Edsall
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Connecticut
• Total pay in 2018: $1,100,000

• Name: Mark T. Brainard
• Job title: President
• Employer: Delaware Technical Community College
• Total pay in 2018: $245,954.82

• Name: Dan Mullen
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Florida
• Total pay in 2018: $6,070,000

• Name: Kirby Smart
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Georgia
• Total pay in 2018: $6,603,600

• Name: Jay Boughanem
• Job title: Staff surgeon
• Employer: Hawaii Health Systems Corp.
• Total pay in 2018: $600,000

• Name: Bryan Harsin
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Boise State University
• Total pay in 2018: $1,650,010

• Name: Lovie Smith
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Total pay in 2018: $5,000,000

• Name: Jeff Brohm
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Purdue University
• Total pay in 2018: $3,800,000

• Name: Kirk Ferentz
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Iowa
• Total pay in 2018: $4,700,000

• Name: Bill Self
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: University of Kansas
• Total pay in 2018: $4,066,857

• Name: John Calipari
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: University of Kentucky
• Total pay in 2018: $9,276,643

• Name: Ed Orgeron
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Louisiana State University
• Total pay in 2018: $3,500,000

• Name: Joan Ferrini-Mundy
• Job title: President
• Employer: University of Maine
• Total pay in 2018: $350,000.04

• Name: Mark Turgeon
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: University of Maryland, College Park
• Total pay in 2018: $2,847,232

• Name: Michael Collins
• Job title: Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and senior vice president for health sciences
• Employer: University of Massachusetts
• Total pay in 2018: $1,069,751.67

• Name: Jim Harbaugh
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Michigan
• Total pay in 2018: $7,504,000

• Name: P.J. Fleck
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Minnesota
• Total pay in 2018: $3,550,000

• Name: Matt Luke
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Mississippi
• Total pay in 2018: $3,000,000

• Name: Cuonzo Martin
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: University of Missouri
• Total pay in 2018: $2,800,000

• Name: Laurence Hubbard
• Job title: President and CEO
• Employer: Montana State Fund
• Total pay in 2018: $342,308

• Name: Scott Frost
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Nebraska
• Total pay in 2018: $5,000,000

• Name: Tony Sanchez
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Total pay in 2018: $600,000

• Name: James W. Dean Jr.
• Job title: President
• Employer: University of New Hampshire
• Total pay in 2018: $445,000

• Name: Chris Ash
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Rutgers University-New Brunswick
• Total pay in 2018: $2,200,000

• Name: Bob Davie
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of New Mexico
• Total pay in 2018: $823,740

• Name: Thomas J. Quatroche Jr.
• Job title: President and CEO
• Employer: Erie County Medical Center Corp.
• Total pay in 2018: $876,442.07

• Name: Roy Williams
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Total pay in 2018: $3,298,778

• Name: Larry P. Nybladh
• Job title: Superintendent of schools
• Employer: Grand Forks County
• Total pay in 2018: $231,210

• Name: Urban Meyer
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Ohio State University
• Total pay in 2018: $7,600,000

• Name: Mike Gundy
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Oklahoma State University
• Total pay in 2018: $5,000,000

• Name: Dana Altman
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: University of Oregon
• Total pay in 2018: $2,822,000

• Name: James Franklin
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Pennsylvania State University
• Total pay in 2018: $4,800,000

• Name: David M. Dooley
• Job title: President
• Employer: University of Rhode Island
• Total pay in 2018: $379,999.88

• Name: Dabo Swinney
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Clemson University
• Total pay in 2018: $6,543,350

• Name: T.J. Otzelberger
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: South Dakota State University
• Total pay in 2018: $400,000

• Name: Jeremy Pruitt
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Tennessee
• Total pay in 2018: $3,846,000

• Name: Jimbo Fisher
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: Texas A&M University
• Total pay in 2018: $7,500,000

• Name: Kyle Whittingham
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Utah
• Total pay in 2018: $3,787,917

• Name: Frederick C. Morin III
• Job title: Dean of the College of Medicine
• Employer: University of Vermont
• Total pay in 2018: $582,254

• Name: Tony Bennett
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: University of Virginia
• Total pay in 2018: $4,150,000

• Name: Chris Petersen
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Washington
• Total pay in 2018: $4,377,500

• Name: Bob Huggins
• Job title: Head basketball coach
• Employer: West Virginia University
• Total pay in 2018: $3,865,000

• Name: Paul Chryst
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Total pay in 2018: $3,750,000

• Name: Craig Bohl
• Job title: Head football coach
• Employer: University of Wyoming
• Total pay in 2018: $1,412,000

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Methodology: GOBankingRates found each state’s highest-paid public employee by analyzing OpenTheBooks.com and USA Today’s 2018 NCAA salary reports for both football and basketball head coaches. GOBankingRates factored total 2018 pay in the rankings and included only the highest-paid employee per state. All head coaches are employed by public universities, and the most recent known salary is stated for each employee. In some instances, the employee has been fired, retired, or let go from their position in the past year but was still the highest paid in the state in 2018. All data was compiled and verified on Aug. 7, 2019.

Photos are for illustrative purposes only. As a result, some of the photos might not reflect the specific employee listed in this article.