Certification
CCRO holders report a median $4,100 above non-holders in the same population band. CCRO-M adds roughly $3,000 again. This is the strongest single factor in the survey and the one most within your control.
Salary survey
What clerks are paid
Self-reported by 231 of 344 members, June 2026. Published because a clerk negotiating alone against a council that has no comparator is negotiating badly.
Full-time base salary by population
Reported base salary, excluding benefits and excluding any treasurer or administrator stipend. Ranges are the 25th to 75th percentile; the median is in brackets.
Under 1,000 — $34,200 to $41,900 [$37,600] · 44 responses
1,000 to 2,499 — $39,800 to $48,300 [$43,100] · 61 responses
2,500 to 4,999 — $46,500 to $56,200 [$50,900] · 48 responses
5,000 to 9,999 — $54,100 to $65,700 [$59,400] · 39 responses
10,000 to 24,999 — $62,800 to $76,400 [$68,900] · 27 responses
25,000 and above — $74,300 to $94,100 [$82,700] · 12 responses
What moves a number
Combined roles
Clerk-treasurer posts report a median $6,800 above clerk-only in the same band — which sounds generous until you divide it by the hours. Roughly a third of respondents in towns under 2,500 hold three or more statutory roles.
Election years
Almost nothing. Only 11% of respondents receive any additional compensation for election administration, despite it being the most time-compressed part of the year.
Read this before quoting a number
What the survey does not capture.
Hours. A part-time salary against full-time hours is the most common complaint in the free-text responses and it does not show up in any band above.
Benefits. Health coverage varies enormously between municipalities and is worth more than the salary spread in some cases.
The floor. These are the people who responded. Clerks in the lowest-paid posts are the least likely to have time to fill in a survey, so the bottom of each range is probably optimistic.
Cost of living. Fairholm and the Coast are not Ellis Hollow. The survey does not adjust and you should.
Taking this to your council?
Members can request the district-level breakdown, which is more persuasive than a statewide band and is not published for that reason. Ask the office.