Boston payroll database: See which city employees made the most in 2024

BOSTON — The Boston Police Department accounted for all but one of the top 10 highest-paid Boston employees in 2024, payroll data the city released last week showed.

Eight city employees made more than $500,000 last year, including a public schools custodian and seven police officers who earn a large chunk of their pay in overtime and detail work, according to the data.

The city’s top earner in 2024 was Boston Police Lt. Detective Stanley Demesmin, who banked a total of $575,583.11, including $223,773.96 in overtime pay.

The non-police worker who ranked inside the top 10 in earnings last year was Paul J. Sordillo, a building services fleet manager at Boston Public Schools.

Sordillo earned $413,783.39 in “other” bucks, in addition to his base salary of $108,815.78. A Boston City Hall spokesperson told the Herald that the other money was “6,000-plus hours of unused vacation time as a BPS custodian earned over decades.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu took home $207,000.04 in 2024, placing 2,139th on the list. Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox earned $311,765.29 in regular pay and $79,187.05 in other money, checking in at 98th on the payroll.

The top 10 highest gross earners out of 25,530 city employees ranked as follows:

1. Police Lt. Detective Stanley Demesmin: $575,583.11
2. Building Services Fleet Manager Paul J. Sordillo: $567,427.49
3. Police Lt. Sean P. Smith: $558,224.86
4. Police Captain Timothy Connolly: $550,760.10
5. Police Captain John H. Danilecki: $544,519.83
6. Police Captain Michael J. Hegarty: $542,153.06
7. Police Captain Steven Sweeney: $525,722.50
8. Police Captain Wayne Lanchester: $519,791.24
9. Police Lt. Daniel C. Pusey: $498,720.65
10. Police Sgt. Detective Rick E. Johnson: $497,621.44

Demesmin was also the highest earning city worker in 2023, with Smith, Danilecki, and Connolly also ranking inside the top 10 for that year.

To view all of the city’s payroll records for 2024, click here.

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