Which County Pays Its Council Members The Most? (Hint: It’s Not Honolulu) … While the mayor and other top officials usually earn more on Hawaii’s most populous island, there’s a big exception.
When it comes to the annual salaries of high-level county workers in Hawaii, the larger the population the more lucrative the pay.
Top officials at the City & County of Honolulu generally earn more than their counterparts on the neighbor islands, usually followed by Hawaii County, Maui County and Kauai County in that order.
But there’s a significant exception: Maui County Council members take home considerably more than council members on the Big Island. And both those jurisdictions pay more than what Honolulu City Council members get. The paychecks for Oahu’s leaders are barely higher than those on Kauai, according to Civil Beat’s Public Employee Salary Database.
