The city\u2019s biggest cost center is compensation for its more than 3,000 employees. And city employees earned a whopping $71 million in overtime in 2025, according to pay records obtained by Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source. That includes payment for so-called secondary employment \u2014 moonlighting done by public safety employees, coordinated by the city but paid by entities like pro sports teams, concerts and smaller organizations that stage events.<\/p>\n
The city controller told Public Source that even without the secondary pay by private entities, city-funded overtime ran $20 million over budget. Last year was the second in a row in which extra compensation reached that historically high level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t make good fiscal decisions if we\u2019re not being realistic about things we know we will have to pay for,\u201d said Controller Rachael Heisler, who repeatedly criticized former Mayor Ed Gainey\u2019s administration for underestimating the amount of overtime in the budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said the problems associated with high overtime are not only financial: It forces first responders to work longer and more dangerous hours.<\/p>\n
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City employees earned $329 million last year, factoring in all overtime and bonus pay,\u00a0 amounting to about half the city\u2019s operating budget.<\/p>\n
Public Source annually files records requests with the city, Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Public Schools to learn how taxpayer money is spent and earned. This time, we found city EMS Bureau employees took home an average of $38,697 apiece in overtime pay, with Police and Fire Bureau workers averaging nearly as much.<\/p>\n
Robert Swartzwelder, the president of the police officers\u2019 union, said the city\u2019s schedule of major events like the marathon, festivals and parades creates an \u201coverworked structure\u201d for the department.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way the city can have these events is to increase overtime significantly, work officers longer hours than they\u2019re accustomed to and it puts a strain on city finances,\u201d Swartzwelder said, adding that the upcoming NFL Draft will cause \u201cmassive strain.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 100 employees earned more from overtime than their base salary; two earned more than double their base salary in overtime and one earned more than triple. Though no city employee earned a base salary of more than $164,236, 105 employees took home more than $200,000 last year.<\/p>\n
Jon Atkinson, president of the paramedics union, said the medics who work large amounts of overtime are vital to keeping the system functional. While some of the overtime totals include money earned from moonlighting at private events, Atkinson said the bureau\u2019s top earners mostly earn overtime on city time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll work 18 to 20 hours a day for literally weeks straight,\u201d Atkinson said of Jerome Wasek and Anthony DeSantis, who earned $271,229 and $259,548 in overtime, respectively. \u201cThose guys get five weeks of vacation, they might take a week or two off. They work like horses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The median salary of full-time city workers last year was $77,043, almost identical to the median household income in the metropolitan area. The\u00a0police, fire and EMS bureaus had higher median salaries<\/p>\n
The top base salaries last year went, as usual, to police and fire leadership. Former Mayor Ed Gainey\u2019s salary was the 23rd highest among city employees at $136,219.<\/p>\n
The diversity of the city\u2019s workforce is roughly equivalent to that of the city\u2019s population. One exception: The city is roughly 7% Asian, compared to only 1% of city workers.<\/p>\n
A bigger disparity exists in the city\u2019s public safety bureaus, where 83% of employees were white in 2025 and 86% were male. (Overall, 63% of the city populace is white, and 48% is male.)<\/p>\n
The public safety bureaus account for most of the city\u2019s high-paying jobs, so their lack of diversity means the city\u2019s white and male employees make median and average salaries significantly higher than their counterparts. For example, white employees made a median salary of about $79,000 last year, compared to $53,000 for Black employees. An almost identical spread existed between male and female employees.<\/p>\n