NC Gov. Josh Stein’s staff salaries range from $49,000 to $230,000. See the data
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- Gov. Josh Stein's office employs around 80 staffers with varied compensation.
- Staff salaries range from $49,273 to $230,000, with top aides among highest paid.
- State budget talks may impact 2025 raises as lawmakers negotiate final legislation.
It’s Labor Day weekend, and Monday is a paid holiday for many workers, including state employees. The holiday grew out of the labor movement in the late 1800s in New York City, and became a national holiday in 1894, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
Among the thousands of North Carolina state employees with a day off for Labor Day are about 80 who work directly for the governor’s office. Good Sunday morning to you, and thanks for reading our Under the Dome newsletter focusing on Democratic Gov. Josh Stein.
I’m Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief.
My colleague, data investigative reporter David Raynor, maintains The N&O government salaries database, and pulled together the salary information earlier this year for Stein’s Cabinet secretaries, who all earn $230,000 or $290,000.
This time, we are sharing the salary data for the current staff for Stein’s office.
Salaries range from $49,273 for special assistants to $230,000 for Stein’s chief of staff. Stein himself, whose salary is set by the General Assembly, earns $203,073. Those are the only two whose salaries top $200,000 a year.
Stein’s top lieutenants are the highest paid, with Chief of Staff Seth Dearmin at the top of the pay scale, followed by salaries of $180,000 for Stein’s chief legal counsel, two deputy chiefs of staff and a senior adviser.
The position of administrative officer has a wide salary range, with the top salary of $180,000 going to Matt Calabria, the former Wake County commissioner who now leads Stein’s Helene recovery office, known as GROW NC.
State employee raises for 2025 are on the table as the already late state budget is being negotiated by Republican House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger.
The most recent data available for top salaries General Assembly leaders’ staff, from 2023, showed chiefs of staff for Berger and the House speaker at about $200,000 and $176,000, respectively.
The N&O’s searchable salary database is updated every month, with information from the state controller.
Thanks for reading Under the Dome
I want to thank one of our Under the Dome readers, Vernie Davis.
“I just read your piece today about the status of potential veto overrides,” Davis emailed me about this past Sunday’s newsletter.
“Thank you very much for your coverage of NC government news to help keep us up to date on the General Assembly and other NC government activities. This information better prepares us to communicate with our elected representatives. In my estimation this is one of the most valuable services of The N&O,” Davis said.
Davis went on to say that “I pass these along to friends more than any other part of The N&O.”
Thanks so much for reading!
Reach me at dvaughan@newsobserver.com.
Be sure to listen to our Under the Dome podcast that posts every Tuesday morning. On our new episode, I’m joined by Charlotte Observer politics reporter Mary Ramsey. We talk about two newsmaking Charlotte-Mecklenburg members of the House delegation: Reps. Carla Cunnigham and Tricia Cotham.
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