2025 local govt CEO salaries
The Taxpayer’s Union has published the 2025 update of its list of local govt CEO salaries. As with last year, I group councils by size to get better comparisons.
They range from $1,027,696 to $228,120. Note that more than one CEO may have been employe during the period so this represents the total amount paid by ratepayers for the CEO role.
| Name | Salary | POPULATION |
| Environment Canterbury | $479,206 | 666,300 |
| Greater Wellington Regional Council | $455,932 | 550,500 |
| Bay of Plenty Regional Council | $439,818 | 354,100 |
| Waikato Regional Council | $392,529 | 522,600 |
| Northland Regional Council | $378,742 | 203,900 |
| Horizons Regional Council | $376,000 | 260,900 |
| Taranaki Regional Council | $373,103 | 128,700 |
| Otago Regional Council | $357,328 | 254,600 |
| Hawke’s Bay Regional Council | $343,400 | 184,800 |
| Environment Southland | $338,893 | 103,900 |
| West Coast Regional Council | $247,620 | 32,900 |
The BOP RC seems to pay a lot for its population, as does Northland and Taranaki.
Large Councils
| Name | Salary | POPULATION |
| Christchurch City Council | $1,027,696 | 396,200 |
| Auckland Council | $735,935 | 1,739,300 |
| Tauranga City Council | $623,658 | 161,800 |
| Wellington City Council | $553,356 | 216,200 |
| Dunedin City Council | $483,652 | 134,600 |
| Hutt City Council | $435,746 | 114,000 |
| Hamilton City Council | $405,661 | 185,300 |
| Whangarei District Council | $382,325 | 101,900 |
Christchurch has paid a huge amount – possibly including a departure package. Tauranga appears overpaid. Hamilton is paid less than others of its size.
Medium Councils
| Name | Salary | POPULATION |
| Rotorua District Council | $695,961 | 78,200 |
| Hastings District Council | $435,880 | 91,900 |
| Waikato District Council | $422,655 | 90,100 |
| Queenstown-Lakes District Council | $416,320 | 52,800 |
| Gisborne District Council | $411,746 | 52,600 |
| Porirua City Council | $405,284 | 62,400 |
| Western Bay of Plenty District Council | $401,705 | 60,800 |
| Palmerston North City | $398,829 | 91,800 |
| New Plymouth District Council | $392,995 | 88,900 |
| Tasman District Council | $392,000 | 59,400 |
| Waipa District Council | $389,495 | 61,100 |
| Marlborough District Council | $385,000 | 52,200 |
| Napier City Council | $384,000 | 67,500 |
| Waimakariri District Council | $371,920 | 69,000 |
| Far North District Council | $365,000 | 74,700 |
| Nelson City Council | $362,700 | 55,600 |
| Kapiti Coast District Council | $360,500 | 58,400 |
| Invercargill City Council | $356,882 | 57,900 |
| Selwyn District Council | $315,333 | 81,300 |
The Rotorua CEO salary seems very high – above some councils twice their size.
Small Councils
| Name | Salary | POPULATION |
| Timaru District Council | $501,549 | 48,900 |
| Upper Hutt City Council | $399,192 | 48,300 |
| Matamata-Piako District Council | $397,944 | 37,700 |
| Whanganui District Council | $393,815 | 48,900 |
| Horowhenua District Council | $382,539 | 37,500 |
| Southland District Council | $382,062 | 33,000 |
| Ashburton District Council | $369,000 | 36,800 |
| Manawatu District Council | $359,875 | 33,900 |
| South Taranaki District Council | $345,984 | 29,600 |
| Whakatane District Council | $337,242 | 38,800 |
| Taupo District Council | $331,162 | 42,000 |
| South Waikato District Council | $315,000 | 26,000 |
| Kaipara District Council | $311,505 | 27,300 |
| Masterton District Council | $310,934 | 29,100 |
| Central Otago District Council | $302,367 | 26,000 |
| Thames-Coromandel District Council | $300,073 | 33,700 |
The top few small councils have very high salaries for their CEOs.
Very small councils
| Name | Salary | POPULATION |
| Gore District Council | $771,588 | 13,050 |
| Westland District Council | $550,457 | 8,940 |
| Grey District Council | $364,005 | 14,250 |
| Waitaki District Council | $358,547 | 24,300 |
| Chatham Islands Council | $338,876 | 730 |
| Ruapehu District Council | $338,847 | 13,050 |
| Hurunui District Council | $338,749 | 13,800 |
| Clutha District Council | $336,402 | 18,900 |
| Hauraki District Council | $322,000 | 22,400 |
| Rangitikei District Council | $300,199 | 16,300 |
| South Wairarapa | $300,140 | 11,900 |
| Tararua District Council | $293,000 | 19,200 |
| Otorohanga District Council | $290,000 | 10,900 |
| Waitomo District Council | $288,070 | 9,720 |
| Central Hawke’s Bay District Council | $283,729 | 16,000 |
| Waimate District Council | $277,000 | 8,400 |
| Opotiki District Council | 267,563 | 10,550 |
| Mackenzie District Council | $266,000 | 5,690 |
| Kaikoura District Council | $259,809 | 4,230 |
| Stratford District Council | $257,500 | 10,300 |
| Wairoa District Council | $253,522 | 9,290 |
| Kawerau District Council | $233,360 | 7,820 |
| Carterton District Council | $229,138 | 10,250 |
| Buller District Council | $228,120 | 9,670 |
I don;’t think you need to pay over $300,000 for CEOs of councils with just 10,000 to 15,000 residents. Those South Island salaries are damn high.