Full-time New York City employees earn about 17% less, on average, than full-time private-sector workers, according to a report issued last week by city Comptroller John Liu.
The average annual salary for a full-time private-sector worker is $66,405, $11,559 more than the $54,846 that city workers earn on average. Roughly 49% of the city’s workforce has a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 41% of workers in the private, for-profit sector, according to the report. Local government workers with a master’s degree or more earn less income — 48% less on average — then they would in the private sector.
Conversely, workers with less education — those who do not hold a bachelor’s degree — receive higher salaries working for the city than if they worked for private business. Those without a high-school diploma earn $9,875 more, on average, as a city worker. Local government employees with just a degree earn $8,926 more than if they worked in the private sector.
While city employees overall receive more generous pension and health benefits than their private-sector counterparts, the report states that if the city’s investment returns meet or exceed expectations, “retirement benefits in large corporate-defined contribution plans will be comparable in value to the pensions provided to city civilian workers,” the report said.
New York City is the 11th largest employer in the U.S., with about 306,000 workers on its payroll. Employment at the city’s independent authorities increases that amount to more then 400,000 workers. Liu’s report uses data compiled by the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2006 through 2008.
The report is part of Liu’s Retirement Security NYC initiative. The comptroller plans to release analysis that protects public employee retirements while also maintaining the city’s finances. Liu’s team is working with the National Institute on Retirement Security and the New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis in crafting the reports.
