Who are the highest paid state employees? This list has some surprises

The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team went 9-22 last season, but coach Ryan “Archie” Miller’s status as the highest paid state employee in Rhode Island only grew in 2023.

Miller, now entering his second season leading URI hoops, made $1,405,000 in 2023, more than double the second highest paid state employee, his boss URI President Marc Parlange. Parlange made $623,846 this year, his second in charge of the state’s flagship university.

In total, Rhode Island paid 17,392 people in 2023, including part-time workers and employees who have since left the state payroll, according to figures from the Department of Administration. At any given time the state workforce is usually between 13,000 and 14,000 people.

That doesn’t include employees of independent authorities and quasi-governmental agencies, such as the Narragansett Bay Commission, Rhode Island Airport Corporation, Rhode Island Resource Recovery or the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

This year 280 state employees made more than $200,000, the most ever. At the same point in 2022, 159 employees had more than $200,000 in earnings, although last year a few more were expected to cross the $200,000 threshold when final payments were in.

Nine state employees made more than $400,000 this year and 38 state employees made more than $300,000.

One of the state employees who didn’t break the $200,000 mark was Gov. Dan McKee, who made $162,620, which ranked him 770th in total state earnings, according to Department of Administration spokeswoman Laura Hart.

URI coaches, admins top the list of highest-earners

Seeing college coaches and administrators dominate the list of highest paid state employees is nothing new in Rhode Island and many states.

Miller and Parlange were first and second in state earnings last year despite Miller ($794,615 in 2022) only working half of the year. And before that Miller’s predecessors David Cox and Danny Hurley had topped the list.

Rhode Island is one of the rare states, however, where a women’s college basketball coach is near the top of the highest paid list.

URI’s Tammi Reiss earned $449,312 this year, moving her up from the fourth highest earning state employee to the third highest.

URI basketball: Rhode Island women’s basketball makes history on Sunday. Here’s how.

URI employees made up five of the top 10 highest earning state employees this year, with Provost Barbara Wolfe ($428,001) and Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn ($357,055) joining Miller, Parlange and Reiss.

“The University competes internationally for talent, and there is considerable competition in the global marketplace,” URI spokesman David Lavallee wrote in an email.  

“Nationally, it is common for basketball coaches at Division I institutions to be among a state’s highest paid employees. Coach Miller’s pay includes his base salary, fees for appearance and participation in events and functions, a portion of gate receipts for home games, and other categories of pay. Coach Reiss continues to lead the women’s basketball team to new levels of success and national recognition, including an Atlantic 10 regular season co-championship last season.”

The highest non-university employees

The first non-URI state employee on the top earnings list is Dr. Jason Andreas, an attending psychiatrist and physician administrator at the state psychiatric hospital. Andreas made $429,087 in 2023.

Andreas was among three employees for the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals in the top 10, along with registered nurses Wade Johnson ($414,321) and Scott Christopher ($382,198.)

The state hospital employee earnings are driven by overtime pay needed to keep the facility running 24 hours a day. Johnson’s $277,964 in overtime was the most this year.

Keeping the Adult Correctional Institutions’ prisons open around the clock also requires heavy overtime. Correctional Officers Mark Wilbur ($405,580) and John Brazil Jr. ($354,851) rounded out the top 10 in total earnings.

Wilbur, whose $271,320 in overtime earned this year was the second most to Johnson in the states, has been the ACI’s overtime king for years. He has earned at least $190,000 in overtime since 2018.