Fifteen employees on the state’s payroll earned more than $1 million in the last fiscal year, and 121 earned more than $500,000, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of data from Georgia’s Department of Audits and Accounts.
More than half the employees who earned over $1 million are football and basketball coaches at the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. The rest are doctors and leaders at universities, the Georgia Ports Authority and the Teachers Retirement System.
University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart remains the highest earner for the seventh year in a row. The latest salary data shows he earned $12.2 million in the 2024 fiscal year. This is actually a decrease in his salary, which the site lists as about $13.3 million in the 2023 fiscal year. Smart, who has led the Bulldogs to two national championships, was the top paid coach in the nation in 2024, according to Sports Illustrated.
The University of Georgia’s head men’s basketball coach Michael White has the second highest state salary, with about $3.6 million last fiscal year, a raise from his $3.4 million salary the year before. He is followed by Georgia Tech’s head football coach Brent Key, who received almost $3 million in pay, a $1 million increase from last year. The boost is likely because he was interim head coach for part of the fiscal year before becoming the official head coach.
Women’s basketball coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson is a new addition to the list of coaches earning over $1 million. In the 2023 fiscal year, she earned about $992,000, but that increased to just over $1 million by the 2024 fiscal year.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The high share of top salaries among coaches is not surprising, given that sports generate huge revenue for these universities. Schools also have to compete with other states for coaches, said Ross Rubenstein, a professor at Georgia State University whose research focuses on public finance and education policy.
“If you take somebody like Kirby Smart who’s been incredibly successful, there’s schools all over the country who would do whatever it takes to get him to come work for them,” he said. “The best way to retain employees like that is through high salaries.”
But only a fraction of the half a million state employees earn this much money.
Georgia’s teachers had an average salary of about $64,000 in 2024 according to the National Education Association.
Rank-and-file workers like teachers and law enforcement received raises ranging from $3,000 to $6,000 last year. Gov. Brian Kemp’s salary was about $182,000 and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones had a salary of about $99,000, according to the website.
For the second year in a row, Griff Lynch, the executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, is the highest paid employee at a state agency with a salary of about $1.4 million.
During Lynch’s CEO term from 2016 to 2024, revenues from port traffic increased 114%, Kent Fountain, chairman of the Georgia Ports Authority, said in a statement.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Charles Cary, the chief investment officer at the Teachers Retirement System, has the second highest income out of state agency employees with $1 million. That is a dip in his salary of $1.1 million last fiscal year.
Buster Evans, the executive director of the Teachers Retirement System, said Cary’s salary is based, in part, on performance from fiscal years 2021-2023. The Teachers Retirement System administers the retirement fund for teachers in the state’s public schools and employees of the University System of Georgia. The fund gained 14.5% in the last fiscal year, according to Evans.
Others who earned over $1 million include university presidents and doctors.
Three Augusta university professors and doctors made over $1 million — two cardiothoracic surgeons and a neurosurgeon. Angel Cabrera, the president of Georgia Tech, earned $1.2 million, the top salary for a public university president in the state.
The highest earning schools system employee was Christopher McMichael, the superintendent of Barrow County Schools, who received about $691,000. He is no longer in this role, and superintendents often get payouts when they leave school systems. The previous fiscal year he earned $240,000. Barrow County Schools said it cannot comment on particular personnel cases.
Top earners (salaries are rounded and * are no longer in the role)
Universities
Kirby Smart, head football coach, University of Georgia, $12.2 million
Michael White, head coach men’s basketball, University of Georgia, $3.6 million
Brent Key, head football coach, Georgia Tech, $3 million
Glenn Schumann, defensive coordinator, University of Georgia, $2.1 million
Damon Stoudamire, head men’s basketball coach, Georgia Tech, $2.1 million
Mike Bobo, offensive coordinator, University of Georgia, $1.3 million
James St. Louis, chief of pediatric heart surgery and professor, Augusta University, $1.3 million
Angel Cabrera, president, Georgia Tech, $1.2 million
Tray Scott, defensive line coach, University of Georgia, $1.2 million
Richard Lee, cardiothoracic surgeon, section chief and professor, Augusta University, $1.2 million
State agencies
Griff Lynch, president and CEO, Georgia Ports Authority, $1.4 million
Charles Cary, chief investment officer, Teachers Retirement System, $1 million
Michael Majure, co-chief investment officer, Teachers Retirement System, $898,000
Thomas Horkan, co-chief investment officer, Teachers Retirement System, $886,000
Ed McCarthy, chief operating officer, Georgia Ports Authority, $674,000
Cliff Pyron, chief commercial officer, Georgia Ports Authority, $673,000*
Sonny Perdue, chancellor, Board of Regents of University System of Georgia, $532,000
Russell McMurry, commissioner, Department of Transportation, $532,000
Teresa MacCartney, executive vice chancellor, Board of Regents of University System of Georgia, $518,000
Jamie McCurry, chief administrative officer, Georgia Ports Authority, $492,000
Local school boards
Christopher McMichael, superintendent, Barrow County Board of Education, $691,000*
Nathan Franklin, superintendent, Walton County Board of Education, $561,000*
Brian Hightower, superintendent, Cherokee County Board of Education, $533,000*
Adam Hathaway, superintendent, Tift County Board of Education, $530,000*
Christopher Ragsdale, superintendent, Cobb County School District, $517,000
Michael Looney, superintendent, Fulton County Board of Education, $497,000
Calvin Watts, superintendent, Gwinnett County Board of Education, $475,000
Mark Albertus, superintendent, City of Carrollton Board of Education, $401,000
Anthony Smith, superintendent, Clayton County Board of Education, $397,000
Mark Scott, superintendent, Houston County Board of Education, $372,000*
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