The average salary for our 45 job titles in 2009 was $47,077, an increase of 2.6% from the 2008 average ($45,868). This was the smallest annual increase since 2003. The recession that began at the end of 2007 has clearly made its presence felt in the earnings of state employees.

Jobs with collective bargaining posted a 3.1% increase (to $52,265) versus a -0.1% change for non-CB jobs (to $38,562). This type of divergence is typical in a recession, when the effects on wages of unionized workers tend to lag behind those on non-union employees.  The “gap” between CB and non-CB salaries still remains strong in 2009, with the former earning, on average, 35.5% more than the latter. Download full report here.

Supporting Tables

This is the 10th year of the AFT Public Employees Compensation Survey and the 8th year that average salary data has been collected. For the first time, the AFT provides extensive trend analysis of wages since 2002 including:

Trend in the Global Average: 2002-2009
Global Average Salary by Collective Bargaining Status: 2009
State Employee vs. Private Sector Salary Comparison: 2009
Collective Bargaining Wage Differential by Job: 2009

About the Report and AFT Public Employees Division

The AFT Public Employees Compensation Survey is the only national survey of its kind, providing comprehensive information on the wages of 45 jobs in state government. Published annually since 2000, the report has become an essential tool for state human resource departments, union leaders and other labor relations professionals.

The 2009 report compares the salaries and pay practices of state employees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For each job title, the report presents state-by-state information on minimum and maximum salary, average salary, number of employees working in the job, pay plan type, additional cash compensation, collective bargaining status and work week hours.

AFT Public Employees is the division of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) that represents federal, state and local government employees. The division represents more than 125,000 government workers across 20 states. Thousands of professional job titles—ranging from accountant to chemist to social worker—are included in its ranks.