New year means a pay raise for Gov. Josh Shapiro, his Cabinet and judges

The arrival of 2024 brings a 3.5% pay raise for Gov. Josh Shapiro and other executive branch officials and judges across Pennsylvania.

Under state law that provides for automatic pay hikes for the governor and other top officials, Shapiro’s salary will increase to $237,679 – about $8,000 more than he was paid during his first year in office, according to the state’s budget office website.

Shapiro’s salary ranks near the highest among the nation’s governors. In 2023, it ranked third behind the salaries of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at $250,000 and California Gov. Gavin Newsom at $234,101.

But the salaries of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court justices, who also qualify for a 3.5% increase, top Shapiro’s salary.

Chief Justice Debra Todd’s new salary is $260,734, while the other justices are paid $253,361, according to the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Pennsylvania’s high court justices last year were the fifth highest paid in the nation behind California, Illinois, Florida, and the District of Columbia, according to the National Center for State Courts.

The other approximately 1,000 state judges from the Superior Court down to magisterial district courts. Shapiro’s Cabinet officers and other appointed boards, also will see a pay boost by the same amount.

Salaries of state lawmakers, who benefit from the same pay raise law, kicked in on Dec. 1. It raised their base salary to $106,422.

The size of the raises under the 1995 automatic pay raise law is determined by the annual change in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area.

Here are the 2024 salaries for other executive and judicial branch officials:

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis: $199,648, up from $192,897

State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, Auditor General Timothy DeFoor and Attorney General Michelle Henry: $197,748, up from $191,061

Secretaries of the departments of Education, Environmental Protection, Health, Labor & Industry, Human Services, Transportation, and Correction: $190,142, up from $183,712

Secretaries of the departments of Aging, Community & Economic Development, General Services, Revenue, and Conservation & Natural Resources and the state police commissioner: $180,635, up from $174,527

Secretaries of Agriculture, Banking & Securities, State, and Drug & Alcohol Programs and the insurance commissioner: $171,128, up from $165,341

Superior and Commonwealth court judges’ 2024 salaries: $239,059

President judges of Superior and Commonwealth courts’ 2024 salaries: $246,428

County common pleas court judges: $219,933 (president judges’ salaries range from $220,892 to $224,356)

Magisterial district judges: $109,973