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City of Toronto vs County of Essex: who pays more?

City of Toronto had 13,079 people on the 2025 Sunshine List with a median of $128,018, County of Essex 286 with a median of $112,001 — City of Toronto pays its listed staff 14% more at the median, and City of Toronto lists 46× as many people.

On the list

City of Toronto
13,079
County of Essex
286

employees paid $100K+, 2025

Median salary

City of Toronto
$128,018
County of Essex
$112,001

salary paid, 2025

Average salary

City of Toronto
$135,219
County of Essex
$120,560

salary paid, 2025

Listed payroll

City of Toronto
$1.8B
County of Essex
$34.7M

total compensation, 2025

Median salary by year
19962025

  • City of Toronto
  • County of Essex
City of Toronto and County of Essex, 1996–2025City of Toronto: $107,575 in 1996 to $128,018 in 2025. County of Essex: $105,488 in 2003 to $112,001 in 2025.$0$50K$100K$150K1996200620152025

Median salary paid on each employer’s Sunshine List filing. A gap is a year the employer filed nobody under this name.

Year by year

City of Toronto and County of Essex by year: people on the Sunshine List and median salary
YearCity of TorontoCounty of Essex
PeopleMedianPeopleMedian
202513,079$128,018286$112,001
202410,256$125,118236$110,660
20239,256$123,848185$110,415
20228,107$122,667132$109,808
20217,345$119,19384$109,491
20207,239$115,17892$111,400
20196,806$113,26751$112,562
20186,188$113,49344$113,515
20175,872$114,01933$111,647
20164,400$113,69936$110,007
20154,382$113,02126$124,914
20144,901$111,86025$116,235
20134,892$111,79318$113,683
20122,375$112,12719$111,295
20112,189$110,97318$107,961
20102,137$111,12818$106,290
20092,072$113,44721$108,918
20081,552$112,4788$109,286
20071,738$110,8956$106,521
2006989$108,2398$104,779
2005732$109,8115$100,568
2004503$111,46710$130,271
2003527$114,00518$105,488
2002407$114,334
2001198$112,434
2000205$114,732
1999116$107,570
1998100$108,055<5<5
199752$110,437
199634$107,575

Related questions

Method. Medians and averages are salary paid; listed payroll is total compensation (salary plus taxable benefits), as filed. Both sides come from the same Ontario Sunshine List, which covers only public-sector employees paid $100,000 or more — so this compares the shape of each employer’s six-figure payroll, not its whole workforce, and an employer with more low-paid staff simply lists fewer of them. A side with fewer than five people keeps its count but shows “<5” instead of a median, average or payroll figure, since any of those would be that handful of people’s own numbers. Sector: Municipalities & Services. Data runs through 2025.