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  • By kind of work
  • The overtime lens
  • The distribution

What city work pays

Nurses, transit operators, firefighters, librarians, engineers — what their work pays. 13 years of Controller data, published as aggregates only (no group under 5 people).

Fiscal years 2013–2025 · source data updated July 13, 2026.

$160,118 Median total compensation, FY2025$6.9B Total payroll, FY202540,786 People paid$8,375 Per resident, per year

The payroll, by kind of work

Total compensation by job family, FY2013–FY2025. The source’s job codes, grouped into 16 citizen-readable families.

For every $100 of the $6.9B payroll in FY2025, by kind of work
  • Health & Hospitals16.6%$1.1B
  • Administration & Finance11.1%$770.8M
  • Trades & Maintenance9.1%$632.9M
  • Police8.7%$599.3M
  • Justice & Corrections8.2%$567.7M
  • Transit Operations7.3%$507.1M
  • Fire6.6%$454.3M
  • Engineering & Inspection6.4%$446.0M
  • Everything else (8 more)25.9%$1.8B

The three biggest kinds of work are 36.8% of the payroll. Showing the 8 biggest of 16 — the rest is the grey slice. What the grey slice holds.

Source: Employee Compensation·Data ↗·Method →

Overtime since FY2013

$471.0M of overtime in FY2025 — 6.8% of all compensation, up from 4.3% in FY2013. It concentrates where services run around the clock.

Overtime concentration reflects how staffing gaps in 24/7 services (police patrol, jails, transit, hospitals, fire) are covered — existing staff working paid extra hours when positions go unfilled. This file measures the pattern; it does not adjudicate it. How these series are keyed.

The City paid $471.0M in overtime in FY2025 — 6.8% of all compensation, against 4.3% in FY2017. Police overtime alone went from $50.7M to $147.2M while the department went from 3,249 to 3,007 people. That year, 373 employees were paid more in overtime than in salary.

SF Controller — employee compensation, FY2013–FY2025

Open a department:Police · Municipal Transportation Agcy · Fire Department · Public Health · Sheriff · Public Utilities Commission · Emergency Management · Airport Commission

How the overtime-above-salary counter is built

Source: Employee Compensation·Data ↗·Method →

The spread of city pay

Half of city workers earned between $106,367 and $225,576 in FY2025; the top 1% starts near $495,279. The whole distribution has drifted right.

$0–$25k · 4,215 employees (10.3%)$0–$25k · 4,215 employees (10.3%)$25k–$50k · 1,817 employees (4.5%)$25k–$50k · 1,817 employees (4.5%)$50k–$75k · 1,874 employees (4.6%)$50k–$75k · 1,874 employees (4.6%)$75k–$100k · 1,776 employees (4.4%)$75k–$100k · 1,776 employees (4.4%)$100k–$125k · 3,446 employees (8.4%)$100k–$125k · 3,446 employees (8.4%)$125k–$150k · 5,067 employees (12.4%)$125k–$150k · 5,067 employees (12.4%)$150k–$175k · 5,059 employees (12.4%)$150k–$175k · 5,059 employees (12.4%)$175k–$200k · 4,224 employees (10.4%)$175k–$200k · 4,224 employees (10.4%)$200k–$225k · 3,034 employees (7.4%)$200k–$225k · 3,034 employees (7.4%)$225k–$250k · 2,504 employees (6.1%)$225k–$250k · 2,504 employees (6.1%)$250k–$275k · 1,998 employees (4.9%)$250k–$275k · 1,998 employees (4.9%)$275k–$300k · 1,611 employees (3.9%)$275k–$300k · 1,611 employees (3.9%)$300k–$325k · 1,049 employees (2.6%)$300k–$325k · 1,049 employees (2.6%)$325k–$350k · 843 employees (2.1%)$325k–$350k · 843 employees (2.1%)$350k–$375k · 607 employees (1.5%)$350k–$375k · 607 employees (1.5%)$375k–$400k · 410 employees (1.0%)$375k–$400k · 410 employees (1.0%)$400k–$425k · 297 employees (0.7%)$400k–$425k · 297 employees (0.7%)$425k–$450k · 259 employees (0.6%)$425k–$450k · 259 employees (0.6%)$450k–$475k · 176 employees (0.4%)$450k–$475k · 176 employees (0.4%)$475k–$500k · 130 employees (0.3%)$475k–$500k · 130 employees (0.3%)$500k and above · 390 employees (1.0%)$500k and above · 390 employees (1.0%)median $160,118p25 $106kp99 $495k$0$100k$200k$300k$400k$500k+

10.3% of FY2025 employees appear under $25k: poll workers, seasonal aides and mid-year hires, paid for part of a year rather than all of it. Why there is no p10.

Click any bar to see which kinds of work are paid in that band.

1,252 people above $400k in FY2025. FY2013 had 1. In the latest year, 390 people were above $500k. The group is mostly public-safety supervisors and public-hospital physicians — overtime and premium pay on negotiated scales, not executive salaries. By primary job title:
Sergeant 3 168Police Officer 3 145Registered Nurse 95Deputy Sheriff 63Lieutenant 3 57Sr Psychiatric Physician Spec 37Battalion Chief, Fire Suppress 28Firefighter 26Senior Physician Specialist 25Sheriff's Lieutenant 24+ 584 across other titles
Source: Employee Compensation·Data ↗·Method →
Sources & downloadsFull method →

Perimeter: Every City and County of San Francisco employee paid through the Controller's payroll in the fiscal year — including part-year and part-time staff (headcount, NOT full-time equivalents). Compensation = salaries + overtime + other salaries + benefits (retirement, health & dental, other). · Coverage: Series are keyed on department_code with the code's most recent label: department LABELS change format at FY2017 ('POL Police' → 'Police') and several departments were reorganized — codes are stable across all 13 years, labels are not. · Source: Employee Compensation ↗

Downloadspayroll_by_year.jsonpayroll_overtime.jsonpayroll_by_dept_year.jsonpayroll_distribution.jsonpayroll_family_distribution.jsonpayroll_by_family_citywide.jsonMethod & data quality
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