Mid City Times

Department of State Health Services paid an average compensation of $55,661 during 2021, this was more than the public employee average of $55,188, according to data compiled by The Texas Tribune.

The highest-paid public employee in Texas was Beau Michelle Le, who earned $608,850 as the chief scientific officer at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

The national median hourly wage is $19.14 according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the OECD, the average yearly wage in the US is more than $60,000.

When calculating average compensation, only employees categorized as full-time were included.

Rank	Employee	Amount Earned
1	John Hellerstedt	$271,083
2	Kirk Cole	$220,246
3	Jennifer Shuford	$195,935
4	Manda Hall	$191,232
5	Stephen Pont	$190,000
6	Lillian Ringsdorf	$184,000
6	Sharon Melville	$184,000
8	Sharon Huff	$182,000
8	Carlos Plasencia	$182,000
8	Emilie Prot	$182,000
11	Donna Sheppard	$180,517
12	Rachel Sonne	$180,000
12	John Milton	$180,000
12	Barbara Klein	$180,000
15	Peter Pendergrass	$168,000
16	Maria Garcia	$167,400
17	Kelly Fegan-Bohm	$165,540
18	Ricardo Garcia	$165,000
19	David Gruber	$164,000
20	Debra Freedenberg	$162,557
21	Timothy Stevenson	$159,000
21	Roberto Beaty	$159,000
23	Christine Havel	$157,954
24	Luis Morales	$154,944
25	Monica Gamez	$152,000
26	Grace Kubin	$148,000
27	Rhonda Stokley	$138,600
28	David Auzenne	$138,000
29	Nancy Ejuma	$136,756
30	Jeremy Triplett	$136,755
31	Amanda Hudson	$134,670
32	Susan Tanksley	$134,000
33	Diana Martinez	$133,372
34	Rachael Hendrickson	$128,257
35	Anita Albert	$128,125
36	Leslie Aguilar	$126,953
37	Nimisha Bhakta	$126,437
37	Heidi Bojes	$126,437
37	Tara Das	$126,437
40	Shenice Williams	$125,000
40	Matthew Williams	$125,000
40	Arthur Howard Jr.	$125,000
40	Kimberly Melendez	$125,000
44	Aelia Akhtar	$124,992
45	Charney Lori Gabbert	$124,323
46	John Lopez	$123,996
47	James Dillon	$123,923
48	Jeffrey Hoogheem	$122,030
49	Lisa Wyman	$121,702
50	Lisa Bruedigan	$120,933
51	Rachel Lee	$120,000
51	Antonio Aragon	$120,000
51	Dawn Smith	$120,000
54	Christopher Drews	$118,673
55	Lisa Hutson	$116,000
56	Arthur Alvarado	$115,673
56	Greta Etnyre	$115,673
56	Sylvia Garces-Hobbs	$115,673
56	Gale Morrow	$115,673
60	Mercy Dena-Bryant	$115,000
61	David Leary	$113,022
61	Charlotte Sullivan	$113,022
61	Rebecca Earlie-Royer	$113,022
61	Carol Davis	$113,022
61	Ruben Acevedo	$113,022
61	Kelly Northcott	$113,022
67	Jorie Klein	$113,022
67	Kevin Veal	$113,022
69	Tracey Bronnenberg-Manuel	$111,807
70	Karen Ruggiero	$111,459
71	Courtney Dezendorf	$111,017
72	Lester Mattson	$110,700
73	Kevin Allen	$110,000
73	Norris Harrell	$110,000
75	Paul Grunenwald	$109,836
76	Ann Casey	$107,712
77	Chizoba Anozie	$107,196
78	Barbara Kelly-King	$105,600
79	Melissa Tung	$105,000
80	Patricia Melchior	$104,411
81	Karin Hopkins	$104,000
82	Rosalie Sakata	$103,491
83	Caitlin Cotter	$103,486
84	Peggy Hines	$102,928
85	Thomas Lansford	$102,747
86	Dandra Luna	$102,000
87	Melanie Williams	$101,933
88	Cristina Garcia	$101,812
89	Jonah Wilczynski	$101,534
90	Susana Garcia	$101,184
91	Carl Hogberg	$101,000
91	Rahsaan Drumgoole	$101,000
91	Kathleen Street	$101,000
91	Aurora Martinez	$101,000
95	Virginia McGalin	$101,000
96	Gabriel Pina	$100,873
97	Karen Tannert	$100,382
98	Mary Menix	$100,107
99	Ma Angelica Angco	$100,007
100	Ann Duncan	$100,000