The author provides an initial examination of salaries of American city councils. Data from 54 midsize cities are used to demonstrate that, contrary to stereotypes in the literature, American city councils are often full-time, relatively well-paid legislative bodies. Some are higher paid than their respective state legislatures. A number of factors, including structural, fiscal, and state-level variables, are associated with variation in pay for councils. Aside from the full- or part-time status of councils, socioeconomic variables are most closely linked to salaries.
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