Maryland state government is facing a $3 billion budget gap, prompting scrutiny of how the government compensates its employees, representing a significant expense. Payroll, including both government workers and contract employees, accounts for one-seventh of Maryland’s spending, totaling $8.84 billion in 2024, a 12% increase from the previous year. Overtime pay alone amounted to $404.4 million, a jump of 11% from the previous year.
Data from 180,009 pay entries across 79 state organizations, provided by the Comptroller of Maryland, was obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a public information request. The data shows that some workers received multiple pay entries, indicating they may have worked for different organizations or as both government employees and contract workers during the year.
Earnings were rounded to the nearest thousand to prevent tax fraud on state employees, resulting in some figures being rounded down to zero. Workers who earned less than the median earnings of $50,000 were anonymized as “Employee” by The Baltimore Sun.
The data is available for public exploration and analysis, allowing for transparency and scrutiny of how Maryland’s state government compensates its employees. Any questions or feedback about the data can be directed to coordinators@baltsun.com.
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