The 5 highest-paid City of Charlotte employees in 2025
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For a transparent look at how taxpayer dollars are spent, Axios keeps a list of the highest-paid government employees in the City of Charlotte.
Why it matters: Local government must pay leaders enough to retain talent while still being good stewards of tax dollars.
Zoom in: The Charlotte mayor's salary is $49,774 (up from $46,161 last year).
- City Council members make $41,600 (up from $38,581).
- They also receive expenses and technology and auto allowances. Those included, the mayor and council members make $72,901 and $64,251, respectively.
- City Council and mayor are not technically full-time positions in Charlotte, though they often require full-time work.
See the list below. We included only base salaries, not benefits or bonuses.
1. Marcus Jones, city manager
Salary: $451,932.89 ($228.14 an hour)
- 2024: $451,932.89
Job description: He's where the buck stops in city hall — the top boss overseeing a $3.65 billion operating budget and all the departments, including aviation, public transit and economic development.
- Charlotte has a "weak mayor" form of government, which means the city manager (Marcus Jones) runs the city like a CEO. The City Council and the mayor set policy, and the manager carries it out day to day.
Fun fact: Jones' annual salary is more than the president's.
2. Haley Gentry, aviation director
Salary: $326,102.21 ($154.04 an hour)
- 2024: $305,145.23
- Salaries within the city's aviation department are paid for by airport revenue.
Job description: She's in charge of the day-to-day operations of one of the world's busiest airports, with more than 60 million anticipated passengers this year.
- Gentry is juggling multiple construction projects to modernize the city-owned airport, such as concourse renovations.
Fun fact: Gentry started her career at the airport as an intern in the '90s.
3. Brent Cagle, interim CEO of CATS
Salary: $323,717.42 ($152.89 an hour)
- 2024: $302,874
Job description: Cagle, a deputy city manager, took on the challenge of reviving CATS in late 2022 amid former CEO John Lewis' resignation and fractures within the agency coming to light. Upon joining, Cagle said he'd discovered a "culture of silence" within CATS and delayed maintenance and inspections.
- Under Cagle's leadership, ridership is up and the service is more reliable. CATS leaders are also vowing to address concerns about safety on the transit system following the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old woman last month.
- Years later, he continues to hold onto the interim title, and the city has not started searching for a new CEO. CATS is in a transitional period as a new policy board is being formed to handle the revenue from the potential 1-cent public transit sales tax, if voters approve the November referendum.
Fun fact: Cagle has also served as the aviation director.
4. Johnny Jennings, police chief
Salary: $294,350.79 ($141.51 an hour)
- 2024: $266,984.85
Job description: Starting his career with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in 1992, Jennings rose through the ranks to the department's top law enforcement officer.
- Jennings is retiring at the end of the year.
- Just before his resignation, City Council agreed to provide Jennings a $305,000 settlement to avoid a potential lawsuit over comments made by former council member Tariq Bokhari.
Fun fact: Jennings has jumped from the eighth-highest-paid employee to the fourth since last year.
5. Liz Babson, assistant city manager
Salary: $288,175.97 ($135.81 an hour)
- 2024: $269,025
Job description: She touches on the crucial areas of a growing city: mobility, planning and transportation.
Go deeper: The 5 highest-paid Mecklenburg County employees in 2025