How the Washington governor’s salary compares to other states

Gov. Jay Inslee
Gov. Jay Inslee

Gov. Jay Inslee’s 2021 salary ranked 5th among the 50 states, almost twice that of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown

Samuel Stebbins
The Center Square

It is generally true that you don’t get into politics for the paycheck. Even though politicians have significant power and clout, as well as the ability to affect the lives of thousands, even millions, of Americans, elected officials make significantly less than most CEOs with that kind of influence.

Annual base salaries of elected officials top out at $400,000 for the U.S. president and can be as little as nothing for a small town council member. Members of the House and Senate earn a base annual salary of $174,000, or about $100,000 more than state lawmakers or the typical county commissioner. There is considerable variation in the salaries of governors too.

In Washington, the salary of the governor stood at $187,353 as of 2021, the fifth highest among the 50 states. For additional context, the typical state governor earns between $147,000 and $150,000. Meanwhile, the overall cost of living in Washington is estimated to be about 7.4% higher than the national average.

Currently, Democrat Jay Inslee serves as the governor of Washington. The governor’s current term began in January 2021 and ends in January 2025.

All governor compensation data is from the Book of the States 2021,originally published by The Council of State Governments. Cost of living by state for 2020 is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

RankStateGovernorGov. salary (2021, $)Present term
1New YorkKathy Hochul (D)225,000Aug 2021 – Jan 2023
2CaliforniaGavin Newsom (D)209,747Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
3PennsylvaniaTom Wolf (D)201,729Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
4TennesseeBill Lee (R)198,780Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
5WashingtonJay Inslee (D)187,353Jan 2021 – Jan 2025
6MassachusettsCharlie Baker (R)185,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
7VermontPhil Scott (R)184,100Jan 2021 – Jan 2023
8IllinoisJB Pritzker (D)181,670Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
9MarylandLarry Hogan (R)180,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
10GeorgiaBrian Kemp (R)175,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
10New JerseyPhil Murphy (D)175,000Jan 2022 – Jan 2026
10VirginiaGlenn Youngkin (R)175,000Jan 2022 – Jan 2026
13DelawareJohn Carney (D)171,000Jan 2021 – Jan 2025
14UtahSpencer Cox (R)165,600Jan 2021 – Jan 2025
15HawaiiDavid Ige (D)165,048Dec 2018 – Dec 2022
16OhioMike DeWine (R)164,590Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
17NevadaSteve Sisolak (D)163,474Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
18MichiganGretchen Whitmer (D)159,300Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
19North CarolinaRoy Cooper (D)154,743Jan 2021 – Jan 2025
20ArkansasAsa Hutchinson (R)154,115Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
21TexasGreg Abbott (R)153,750Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
22WisconsinTony Evers (D)152,756Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
23KentuckyAndy Beshear (D)152,181Dec 2019 – Dec 2023
24ConnecticutNed Lamont (D)150,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
24West VirginiaJim Justice (R)150,000Jan 2021 – Jan 2025
26OklahomaKevin Stitt (R)147,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
27Rhode IslandDan McKee (D)145,755Mar 2021 – Jan 2023
28AlaskaMike Dunleavy (R)145,000Dec 2018 – Dec 2022
29New HampshireChris Sununu (R)143,704Jan 2021 – Jan 2023
30North DakotaDoug Burgum (R)138,748Dec 2020 – Dec 2024
31IdahoBrad Little (R)138,302Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
32FloridaRon Desantis (R)134,181Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
33IndianaEric Holcomb (R)134,051Jan 2021 – Jan 2025
34MissouriMike Parson (R)133,821Jan 2021 – Jan 2025
35IowaKim Reynolds (R)130,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
35LouisianaJohn Bel Edwards (D)130,000Jan 2020 – Jan 2024
37MinnesotaTim Walz (D)127,629Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
38AlabamaKay Ivey (R)124,563Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
39MississippiTate Reeves (R)122,160Jan 2020 – Jan 2024
40South DakotaKristi Noem (R)118,728Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
41MontanaGreg Gianforte (R)118,397Jan 2021 – Jan 2025
42KansasLaura Kelly (D)110,707Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
43New MexicoMichelle Lujan Grisham (D)110,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
44South CarolinaHenry McMaster (R)106,078Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
45NebraskaPete Ricketts (R)105,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
45WyomingMark Gordon (R)105,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
47OregonKate Brown (D)98,600Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
48ArizonaDoug Ducey (R)95,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
49ColoradoJared Polis (D)92,700Jan 2019 – Jan 2023
50MaineJanet Mills (D)70,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023

This story was first published by The Center Square.


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