These Were The Highest Paid State Employees in Massachusetts for 2024

Massachusetts is one of the best states to live in the U.S. The small but heavily populated New England state is famous for its stunning and varying landscapes from beaches to mountains, its rich history, world-renowned colleges, and some pretty spectacular sports teams.

In addition to all its offerings, Massachusetts is also a great place to live based on its quality of life. Massachusetts is home to some of the best public education in the country and has one of the highest median incomes and one of the highest GDP per capita in the nation. Several media outlets, including wisevoter.com, rank Massachusetts as the second wealthiest state in the country, behind only New York state

Massachusetts residents might hold an annual median income of just under $89,026, according to census.gov, but there are plenty of Bay State residents who take home far more than that. In fact, one of the best employers in Massachusetts is the state itself.

According to mass.gov, in 2024 the state of Massachusetts employed over 45,000 full-time employees with a total payroll of over $10 billion dollars. So who makes the most out off those 45,000 people?

The highest-paid employee in Massachusetts for 2024 was the same person as it was in 2023. You might be thinking of the Governor, you might be thinking a higher up in the State Police but the answer is far from those positions.

According to WCVB, for the second year in a row Francisco Martin, UMass Men’s Basketball head coach was the highest-paid state employee in 2024. His salary? $1.83 million in total for the year.

In fact, all but one of the states 15 top earning state employees work at UMass. Chancellor Michael Collins was the second-highest-paid state employee, earning a salary of $1.6 million.

The highest-earning state employee who in not employed at UMass was Massachusetts State Police Detectives Captain Thomas McCarthy, who made a salary of $548,072 with $349,815 in overtime pay.