In 2023, Maryland disbursed over $7.9 billion in employee compensation, marking a 10% increase from 2022. This sum represents approximately 13% of the state’s $59.42 billion budget for the fiscal year ending June 30. The payroll encompasses all state employees, including University of Maryland athletics coaches and elected officials in the General Assembly.

The Baltimore Sun obtained this salary data from the Maryland Comptroller’s Office through a Public Information Act request. The dataset includes regular, overtime, and other earnings for 146,113 entries. Of these, 131,166 are unique names, while 7,239 names appear multiple times. Duplicate entries, which can occur when an employee changes departments mid-year, were not consolidated to allow for organization-specific analysis.

The data covers workers paid annually, hourly, or daily, and distinguishes between contract workers, University of Maryland employees, and regular state employees. The Sun’s analysis excluded workers with no reported earnings in 2023.

This comprehensive payroll information provides insight into Maryland’s state workforce compensation and its impact on the overall state budget.