It is generally true that you don’t get into politics for the paycheck. Even though politicians have significant power and clout, as well as the ability to affect the lives of thousands, even millions, of Americans, elected officials make significantly less than most CEOs with that kind of influence.
Annual base salaries of elected officials top out at $400,000 for the U.S. president and can be as little as nothing for a small town council member. Members of the House and Senate earn a base annual salary of $174,000, or about $100,000 more than state lawmakers or the typical county commissioner. There is considerable variation in the salaries of governors too.
In Illinois, the salary of the governor stood at $181,670 as of 2021, the eighth highest among the 50 states. For additional context, the typical state governor earns between $147,000 and $150,000. Meanwhile, the overall cost of living in Illinois is estimated to be about 0.5% higher than the national average.
Currently, Democrat JB Pritzker serves as the governor of Illinois. The governor’s current term began in January 2019 and ends in January 2023.
All governor compensation data is from the Book of the States 2021,originally published by The Council of State Governments. Cost of living by state for 2020 is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
RankStateGovernorGov. salary (2021, $)Present term1New YorkKathy Hochul (D)225,000Aug 2021 – Jan 20232CaliforniaGavin Newsom (D)209,747Jan 2019 – Jan 20233PennsylvaniaTom Wolf (D)201,729Jan 2019 – Jan 20234TennesseeBill Lee (R)198,780Jan 2019 – Jan 20235WashingtonJay Inslee (D)187,353Jan 2021 – Jan 20256MassachusettsCharlie Baker (R)185,000Jan 2019 – Jan 20237VermontPhil Scott (R)184,100Jan 2021 – Jan 20238IllinoisJB Pritzker (D)181,670Jan 2019 – Jan 20239MarylandLarry Hogan (R)180,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202310GeorgiaBrian Kemp (R)175,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202310New JerseyPhil Murphy (D)175,000Jan 2022 – Jan 202610VirginiaGlenn Youngkin (R)175,000Jan 2022 – Jan 202613DelawareJohn Carney (D)171,000Jan 2021 – Jan 202514UtahSpencer Cox (R)165,600Jan 2021 – Jan 202515HawaiiDavid Ige (D)165,048Dec 2018 – Dec 202216OhioMike DeWine (R)164,590Jan 2019 – Jan 202317NevadaSteve Sisolak (D)163,474Jan 2019 – Jan 202318MichiganGretchen Whitmer (D)159,300Jan 2019 – Jan 202319North CarolinaRoy Cooper (D)154,743Jan 2021 – Jan 202520ArkansasAsa Hutchinson (R)154,115Jan 2019 – Jan 202321TexasGreg Abbott (R)153,750Jan 2019 – Jan 202322WisconsinTony Evers (D)152,756Jan 2019 – Jan 202323KentuckyAndy Beshear (D)152,181Dec 2019 – Dec 202324ConnecticutNed Lamont (D)150,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202324West VirginiaJim Justice (R)150,000Jan 2021 – Jan 202526OklahomaKevin Stitt (R)147,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202327Rhode IslandDan McKee (D)145,755Mar 2021 – Jan 202328AlaskaMike Dunleavy (R)145,000Dec 2018 – Dec 202229New HampshireChris Sununu (R)143,704Jan 2021 – Jan 202330North DakotaDoug Burgum (R)138,748Dec 2020 – Dec 202431IdahoBrad Little (R)138,302Jan 2019 – Jan 202332FloridaRon Desantis (R)134,181Jan 2019 – Jan 202333IndianaEric Holcomb (R)134,051Jan 2021 – Jan 202534MissouriMike Parson (R)133,821Jan 2021 – Jan 202535IowaKim Reynolds (R)130,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202335LouisianaJohn Bel Edwards (D)130,000Jan 2020 – Jan 202437MinnesotaTim Walz (D)127,629Jan 2019 – Jan 202338AlabamaKay Ivey (R)124,563Jan 2019 – Jan 202339MississippiTate Reeves (R)122,160Jan 2020 – Jan 202440South DakotaKristi Noem (R)118,728Jan 2019 – Jan 202341MontanaGreg Gianforte (R)118,397Jan 2021 – Jan 202542KansasLaura Kelly (D)110,707Jan 2019 – Jan 202343New MexicoMichelle Lujan Grisham (D)110,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202344South CarolinaHenry McMaster (R)106,078Jan 2019 – Jan 202345NebraskaPete Ricketts (R)105,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202345WyomingMark Gordon (R)105,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202347OregonKate Brown (D)98,600Jan 2019 – Jan 202348ArizonaDoug Ducey (R)95,000Jan 2019 – Jan 202349ColoradoJared Polis (D)92,700Jan 2019 – Jan 202350MaineJanet Mills (D)70,000Jan 2019 – Jan 2023