New database shows Columbus city employee salaries. Search here for how much they earn

Mark Rice
·2 min read
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The Columbus Consolidated Government employs 45 people earning an annual salary of more than $100,000. That’s an increase of 11 six-figure earners compared to last year.

This information comes from a searchable database of CCG salaries compiled by the Ledger-Enquirer.

The database comprises the annual salaries of CCG full-time employees as of Oct. 30, 2023. City government salaries are public information and can be obtained through a request under the Georgia Open Records Act.

Salaries of the 2,258 CCG employees (2,170 last year) range from $31,200 for a custodian to $209,076.14 for city manager Isaiah Hugley, who previously earned $191,200.62, according to last year’s database.

The average CCG salary is $53,462.20 ($46,683.28 last year). According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the average (per capita) salary in Columbus (Muscogee County) is $30,980 ($28,523 last year), the average salary in Georgia is $37,836 ($34,516 last year), and the average salary in the United States is $41,261 ($37,638 last year).

To compensate for outliers (extremely high or extremely low salaries), a better way to compare the CCG employee salaries to how much the typical Columbus resident earns is to use the median salary. That’s the figure at the midpoint of the range.

So the median salary for CCG employees is $49,961.60 ($43,090.84 last year), meaning half of the employees earn more and half earn less than that amount. The U.S. Census Bureau reports median household income, not the median individual salary.

The latest census data shows median household income in Muscogee County is $54,561 ($50,542 last year), the median household income in Georgia is $71,355 ($65,030 last year), and the median household income in the United States is $75,149 ($69,021 last year).

Here are CCG’s 10-highest paid employees:

  • Isaiah Hugley, city manager, $209,076.14

  • Clifton Fay, city attorney, $188,683,30

  • Lisa Goodwin, deputy city manager, $174,245.76

  • Andrew Prather, state court judge, $172,801.80

  • Stoney Mathis, police chief, $170,980.68

  • Pam Hodge, deputy city manager, $169,121.16

  • Pete Temesgen, state court judge, $166,817.40

  • Sal Scarpa, fire & EMS chief, $154,987.04

  • Warner Kennon, juvenile court judge, $153,370.54

  • Lula Huff, tax commissioner, $149,519.40.

The complete database is attached below. Enter a name, job title or keyword into the search box in the upper left corner to find a particular employee or category of employees.