These City of Austin departments spend the most on employee salaries

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin pays its employees more than $1.3 billion each year in base salaries, according to data obtained by KXAN.

The data, as of March 26, 2024, shows the City has 15,164 paid full-time employees and 2,771 paid part-time employees. A further 10 people appeared on the city's payroll, most of whom are unpaid interns.

Five of the city's departments pay out more than $100 million each year in base salaries: Police, Austin Energy, Fire, Parks and Recreation and Austin Water. The figures only include base salaries, so overtime pay is not taken into account.

The police department spends the most on base salaries, at more than $190 million each year. Austin Energy spends just over $181 million on salaries annually, followed by the Austin Fire Department at almost $130 million.

The Office of the City Clerk spends the least on salaries at just under $2.2 million each year. The department is the city's smallest, with 26 employees on the payroll.

When the salaries are averaged by the number of employees, three departments pay an average base salary greater than $100,000 annually. The Information Security Office has the highest average salary, at $123,861.85, followed by the Law department at almost $111,000.

The Parks and Recreation Department is the city's largest, with 2,724 employees on the payroll. The department spends the fourth-highest total on salaries, at more than $111 million annually, but has the lowest average salary per employee, at just less than $41,000.

The Convention Center is the only other department with an average annual base salary less than $50,000.