Alabama ranked 29th among all US states and territories for the average salary of a state employee in 2021. However, its highest-paid employee earns nearly twice that of the highest-paid federal employee.
Corresponding Open payslips, Alabama, paid its state employees an average of $53,693.62 per year. The average salary for federal employees in the South was slightly higher at $54,037.93.
The average salary of state employees in the South was still below the national average of $58,995.49.
But that doesn’t mean Yellowhammer State doesn’t hand out hefty paychecks. Let’s look at the highest paid government employees, who they are and where they work.
1819 News used data from OpenPayrolls to determine the highest paid state employees in Alabama in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. Government employees work directly for the state of Alabama or one of its executive agencies.
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2021 Salary: $834,034
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Gender Male
David Bronner is the director of Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA), which operates the Alabama Civil Service Pension Fund. He is the highest paid state employee in Alabama, earning a whopping $834,034 in 2021, nearly double Dr. Anthony Fauci, the highest paid federal employee.
Bronner was born in Iowa and raised in Minnesota. He came to Alabama to attend law school at the University of Alabama and later received a Ph.D. In 1973 he took up his present position at the RSA.
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Pay 2021: $485,335
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Gender Female
Corresponding Pensions & Investments, Mary Hunter Harrell is the director of private placements at the RSA. Not much was found about her other than helping the pension schemes acquire a newspaper publisher in 2019, which wasn’t RSA’s first acquisition in the printing industry.
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Pay 2021: $482,947.12
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Gender Male
Donald Yancey is the Associate Director of the RSA. Yankee took the job in 2012 after spending 38 years in the teachers’ pension scheme. He received his bachelor’s degree from Huntington College and his master’s degree from Auburn University in Montgomery (AUM). He also received a law degree from Jones Law School and served as a naval officer during the Vietnam War.
Robert Marc Green was called CIO of the RSA in 2004. Prior to that he served as Director of Equities for six years. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and an MBA from AUM.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Barranco has been the Director of Fixed Income for the RSA for 27 years. She received a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University and an MBA from AUM before working as an analyst for The Bronner Group.
Although James K Lyons ended up retiring 2020the state of Alabama reported a salary of $358,884.37 in 2021, according to Lyons Open payslips. Lyons serves as the director and CEO of the State Port Authority, which oversees the port in Mobile. He was replaced by California manager John Driscoll in 2021.
Driscoll earned $351,990 as director and CEO of the State Port Authority in 2021. Previously, he was a Port Manager in Oakland, California, and before that he worked for a shipping company.
William Ashmore is the CEO of the State Employees’ Insurance Board. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from Auburn University before serving in various insurance-related positions for the state.
Diane Scott is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the RSA. According to her LinkedIn profile, she received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama in 1980.
Glen Pringle is the RSA Director of ED. He also received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama. According to that Economic Development Association of AlabamaPringle played a key role in recruiting and financing the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance in 1994. He also helped bring the aerospace industry to Huntsville.
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