Some Twin Cities metro county leaders got double-digit pay raises for 2025

It’s a good time to be in county government leadership — at least when it comes to the pay.

County leaders across the Twin Cities metro area received big salary increases to start 2025. Some saw their pay jump by double digits.

County employees also got pay raises, but increases to their base pay were typically smaller. Added incentives for job performance and experience helped boost worker pay higher.

Locally elected county commissioners approve salaries for sheriffs, attorneys and administrators. They also set their own pay and have the final say over union contracts.

In 2023, the Legislature removed compensation limits, and county leaders, like their city counterparts, are some of Minnesota’s highest paid government officials. They frequently earn more than the governor or his top commissioners.

Julie Ring, executive director of the Association of Minnesota Counties, said government salaries are rising for several reasons, including inflation, workforce shortages and competition for workers with specialized skills.

Ring added that while many private sector employees saw pay increases in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, government leaders often kept budgets tight and pay is now catching up.

“Counties have faced workforce shortages. When you have jobs that are hard to fill, wages creep up to attract workers,” Ring said.

The Hennepin County Board debated elected leaders' salaries last summer and unanimously approved big pay hikes for the county attorney and sheriff that were designed to move them from among the lowest paid in the metro to the top.

Commissioners said they wanted their elected colleagues' pay to be commensurate with the work they do in Minnesota’s biggest county. Sheriff Dawanna Witt and County Attorney Mary Moriarty supported the raises, which brought their salaries to $224,280, and advocated for pay increases for their staff to help with recruitment and retention.

Witt is now the highest paid sheriff in the metro area, but Moriarty wasn’t on top for long. Her counterparts in Dakota, Scott, Washington and Carver counties all surpassed her by the beginning of 2025.

Ring says that is likely due to the need to boost salaries for other public safety officials, like senior staff, to remain competitive. “There’s upward pressure on salaries for those positions because there is upward pressure on the people who report to them,” she said.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi made that argument in his request to the County Board for a 13.5% pay raise, bringing his salary to $223,930, saying it was in line with what his top assistants received.

Administrators are typically among the highest paid employees because they are akin to counties’ CEOs. They manage thousands of employees and oversee budgets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Hennepin County‘s administrator will earn $367,415 this year after a retroactive pay bump last spring and new contract. Washington and Dakota counties’ pay for top executives climbed more than 10%.

Commissioners are more hesitant to dramatically raise their own pay.

The Hennepin County Board sparked outrage last summer when they moved to raise commissioners’ pay by 49%. Board Chair Irene Fernando said it was important that pay reflect the responsibilities of the job and that salary should not be a barrier for people who want to run for public office.

After vigorous pushback, the board decided to raise its pay 5% each of the next two years, and will earn $128,336 in 2025. More than half of the other county boards in the metro area raised commissioner pay by more than 5%.

But not every commissioner accepts those increases. For instance, Dakota County Commissioners William Droste and Mary Liz Holberg declined the 2025 pay increase.

Workers have been quick to point out the large pay raises county leaders have received during contract negotiations. Base pay increases for employees were generally lower than what leaders received for 2025.

Most workers, but not all, are eligible for added pay bumps tied to how long they’ve been in their jobs, and for performance. For instance, Dakota County workers got a 4.25% baseline increase, a 2% market adjustment to make up for previous years and were eligible for merit pay increases of up to 4%.