ICMA conducts an annual survey of chief administrative officers (CAOs) to collect data on salary, benefits, and contract structure for municipal and county managers and administrators.
The 2018 CAO Salary and Compensation Survey was sent to 2,994 ICMA member CAOs in January 2019 and 1,279 CAOs from 48 states responded for a 42.7% response rate. The respondents represent municipalities, counties, and regional agencies or councils of governments across 48 states (no responses were received from Hawaii or Mississippi).
Topics covered in this survey include annual base salary, additional compensation, health insurance and other benefits, and compensation decision making and transparency.
ICMA is pleased to provide detailed results of this survey as a member benefit. See Appendix A and Appendix B (pages 5 to 11) for the median salary by state and population group.
Looking for a snapshot of the survey results? Download the CAO Salary Infographic!
Ready for a deep dive into the results of the survey? The data set is available for purchase for nonmembers, and free for members!
