- The highest-paid public employee in most states is a college football or basketball coach, according to
- The University of Kentucky's John Calipari is the highest-paid basketball coach — but his salary pales in comparison to football coaches for public colleges.
- The salaries for the highest-paid public worker in every state range from $246,000 to $11 million.
The highest-paid public employee in each state isn't a judge, senator, or governor — it's a college football or basketball coach
The highest-paid public job in most states is a college football or basketball coach. Here's how much they make compared to each state's governor.
The highest-paid public employee in your state is probably a college football or basketball coach.
ESPN recently published a report on the highest-paid public employee, which is someone paid by a state, county, or city institution. College athletic coaches dominated the list, often earning many times the salary of the state governor, probably the highest-profile public job.
Eight basketball coaches and 31 football coaches made the list, representing 39 out of 50 states.
Anyone who is not paid by the state — like coaches for private colleges — were excluded from the list, since salary data for a private employee is hard to come by. That means Duke basketball coach Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski and Stanford football coach David Shaw — the highest-earning college coaches in North Carolina and California, respectively — don't appear on ESPN's list.
The salaries for the highest-paid public worker in every state range from $246,000 — more than $50,000 above the highest salary for any governor — to $11 million. ESPN points out that nine of the coaches who were the highest-paid in their state in 2017 no longer hold the same job.
Of the 11 non-coaches who were the highest-paid public employee in their state, eight work in education and two are physician (several work at medical schools). Only one woman made the list: Mary D. Nettleman, a medical school dean.
See who the highest-paid public employee of 2017 was in your state and how much they made. For comparison, we included the governor's salary and the median household income in each state via ESPN.
DELAWARE: Mark Holodick, $246,000 salary in 2017
Job: Brandywine School District superintendent
Governor salary: $171,000
Median household income: $61,017
MAINE: James H. Page, $277,500 salary in 2017
Job: Chancellor of University of Maine system
Governor salary: $70,000
Median household income: $50,826
MONTANA: Clay Christian, $309,000 salary in 2017
Job: Higher Education Commissioner
Governor salary: $108,167
Median household income: $48,380
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Mark W. Huddleston, $492,000 salary in 2017
Job: President of University of New Hampshire
Governor salary: $110,834
Median household income: $68,845
ALASKA: Keith Meyer, $550,000 salary in 2017
Job: President of Alaska Pipeline Development Corp.
Governor salary: $145,000
Median household income: $74,444
VERMONT: Frederick C. Morin III, $559,600 salary in 2017
Job: Dean of University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine
Governor salary: $160,135
Median household income: $56,104
SOUTH DAKOTA: Mary D. Nettleman, $577,700 salary in 2017
Job: Dean, South Dakota School, Sanford School of Medicine
Governor salary: $112,214
Median household income: $52,078
NEW YORK: Lewis Pasternak, $673,600 salary in 2017
Job: Anesthesiologist, Stony Brook University Hospital
Governor salary: $170,050
Median household income: $60,741
NORTH DAKOTA: Joshua Wynne, $674,600 salary in 2017
Job: Dean, North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Governor salary: $129,096
Median household income: $59,114
HAWAII: David J. Engle, $786,000 salary in 2017
Job: Neurosurgeon, Maui Memorial Medical Center
Governor salary: $149,556
Median household income: $71,977
NEW MEXICO: Bob Davie, $822,960 salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of New Mexico
Governor salary: $110,000
Median household income: $45,674
RHODE ISLAND: Dan Hurley, $950,000 salary in 2017
Job: Basketball coach, University of Rhode Island
Governor salary: $132,710
Median household income: $58,387
MASSACHUSETTS: Michael Collins, $1 million salary in 2017
Job: Chancellor and SVP, Health Sciences at UMass System
Governor salary: $151,800
Median household income: $70,954
NEVADA: Eric Musselman, $1 million salary in 2017
Job: Basketball coach, University of Nevada at Reno
Governor salary: $149,730
Median household income: $53,094
WYOMING: Craig Bohl, $1.4 million salary
Job: Football coach, University of Wyoming
Governor salary: $105,000
Median household income: $59,143
IDAHO: Bryan Harsin, $1.6 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, Boise State
Governor salary: $124,436
Median household income: $49,174
NEW JERSEY: Chris Ash, $2.1 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, Rutgers University
Governor salary: $175,000
Median household income: $73,702
NORTH CAROLINA: Larry Fedora, $2.3 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Governor salary: $142,265
Median household income: $48,256
MISSOURI: Barry Odom, $2.4 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Missouri
Governor salary: $133,821
Median household income: $49,593
MARYLAND: Mark Turgeon, $2.6 million salary in 2017
Job: Basketball coach, University of Maryland
Governor salary: $150,000
Median household income: $76,067
COLORADO: Mike MacIntyre, $2.8 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach,
Governor salary: $90,000
Median household income: $62,520
NEBRASKA: Mike Riley, $2.9 million salary in 2017
Job: Former football coach, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Governor salary: $105,000
Median household income: $54,384
OREGON: Willie Taggart, $2.9 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Oregon
Governor salary: $98,600
Median household income: $53,270
ILLINOIS: Lovie Smith, $3 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Illinois
Governor salary: $177,412
Median household income: $59,196
CONNECTICUT: Kevin Ollie, $3.2 million salary in 2017
Job: Basketball coach,
Governor salary: $150,000
Median household income: $71,755
WISCONSIN: Paul Chryst, $3.2 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Governor salary: $147,328
Median household income: $54,610
INDIANA: Archie Miller, $3.2 million salary in 2017
Job: Basketball coach, Indiana University
Governor salary: $111,688
Median household income: $50,433
VIRGINIA: Bronco Mendenhall, $3.4 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach,
Governor salary: $175,000
Median household income: $66,149
MINNESOTA: PJ Fleck, $3.5 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Minnesota
Governor salary: $123,427
Median household income: $63,217
LOUISIANA: Ed Orgeron, $3.5 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, LSU
Governor salary: $130,000
Median household income: $45,652
WEST VIRGINIA: Bob Huggins, $3.6 million salary in 2017
Job: Basketball coach, West Virginia
Governor salary: $150,000
Median household income: $42,644
CALIFORNIA: Jim Mora, $3.6 million salary in 2017
Job: Former football coach, UCLA
Governor salary: $177,467
Median household income: $63,783
UTAH: Kyle Wittingham, $3.7 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach,
Governor salary: $109,470
Median household income: $62,518
GEORGIA: Kirby Smart, $3.8 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach,
Governor salary: $139,339
Median household income: $51,073
TENNESSEE: Butch Jones, $4.1 million salary in 2017
Job: Former football coach,
Governor salary: $187,500
Median household income: $46,574
WASHINGTON: Chris Petersen, $4.1 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Washington
Governor salary: $166,891
Median household income: $62,848
ARKANSAS: Bret Bielema, $4.2 million salary in 2017
Job: Former football coach, University of Arkansas
Governor salary: $141,000
Median household income: $42,336
OKLAHOMA: Mike Gundy, $4.2 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, Oklahoma State
Governor salary: $147,000
Median household income: $48,038
MISSISSIPPI: Dan Mullen, $4.5 million salary in 2017
Job: Former football coach, Mississippi State
Governor salary: $122,160
Median household income: $40,528
IOWA: Kirk Ferentz, $4.6 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Iowa
Governor salary: $130,000
Median household income: $54,570
PENNSYLVANIA: James Franklin, $4.6 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, Penn State
Governor salary: $190,823
Median household income: $54,895
KANSAS: Bill Self, $4.8 million salary in 2017
Job: Basketball coach, University of Kansas
Governor salary: $99,636
Median household income: $53,571
TEXAS: Tom Herman, $5.5 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach,
Governor salary: $150,000
Median household income: $54,727
ARIZONA: Rich Rodriguez, $5.6 million salary in 2017
Job: Former football coach, University of Arizona
Governor salary: $95,000
Median household income: $51,340
FLORIDA: Jimbo Fisher, $5.7 million salary in 2017
Job: Former football coach, Florida State University
Governor salary: $130,273
Median household income: $48,900
OHIO: Urban Meyer, $6.4 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, Ohio State
Governor salary: $148,886
Median household income: $50,674
MICHIGAN: Jim Harbaugh, $7 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Michigan
Governor salary: $159,300
Median household income: $50,803
KENTUCKY: John Calipari, $7.1 million salary in 2017
Job: Basketball coach, University of Kentucky
Governor salary: $139,056
Median household income: $44,811
SOUTH CAROLINA: Dabo Swinney, $8.5 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, Clemson University
Governor salary: $106,078
Median household income: $46,898
ALABAMA: Nick Saban, $11.1 million salary in 2017
Job: Football coach, University of Alabama
Governor salary: $119,950
Median household income: $44,758