Payroll Project: State of Ohio employees’ annual pay up

The total amount the state of Ohio paid its employees was up 5.2% from 2022 with the 2023 total adding up to $3.9 billion, according to the Payroll Project, an annual reporting project from the Dayton Daily News.

This includes 27 employees making over $300,000 and five making over $400,000.

The average gross pay for state employees also went up from $64,940 in 2022 to $67,399 in 2023.

ExplorePrevious report: State employee overtime up $30M in 2022; top earners paid over $400K

All ten of the highest paid state employees in 2023 were employees of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Psychiatrists accounted for eight of the ten highest paid employees.

It is important to note that employees such as physicians and psychiatrists receive both “On Duty” and “On-Call” pay. “On Duty” pay is paid to those who are required to stay onsite for time outside their normal scheduled hours. “On-Call” pay is paid to those who are required to be ready and available to work during off-hours.

The voting and taxpaying public is the employer for government agencies. As with any other employer, the public has not just a right but a responsibility to know how much its employees are paid in the interest of good stewardship.

ExploreSearch public employee salaries: 5 things to know about our Payroll Project

Go here for a searchable database of state and local government pay across our region.

The highest paid state employees in 2023 were:

1. Florence V. Kimbo, psychiatrist: $473,971

2. John Mark Hamill, psychiatrist: $459,905

3. Jyoti Aneja, psychiatrist: $445,494

4. Timothy J. Kantz, psychiatrist: $427,255

5. Robert Acree Campbell, psychiatrist: $415,164

6. Zinovi Goubar, physician administrator: $394,170

7. Peter C. Iversen, psychiatrist: $391,702

8. Abas M. Jama, psychiatrist: $389,344

9. Ramalingam Selvarajah, physician specialist $387,348