A comprehensive analysis by VCIJ at WHRO of Virginia’s public salaries data shows who earns the most – and who lags behind.
By Kunle Falayi
Virginia’s highest-paid workers were in a league of their own: university coaches and athletic directors dominated the top of the state’s payroll, with several earning more than $1 million.
Virginia’s highest-paid workers were in a league of their own: university coaches and athletic directors dominated the top of the state’s payroll, with several earning more than $1 million.
University of Virginia head football coach Tony Elliott earned over $3.4 million in total pay, the highest salary for a public employee in the Commonwealth in calendar year 2025, according to the public salary data analyzed by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO.
Elliott’s contract paid him $4.4 million plus bonuses for coaching last season, which extended beyond the calendar year. Elliott signed an extension with UVA in April, boosting his salary by $1 million annually, not including bonuses, according to the Augusta Free Press.
By contrast, Governor Abigail Spanberger earns an annual salary of $175,000. Attorney General Jay Jones receives $150,000 in compensation, while Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi earns significantly less at $36,321 annually, according to public data. These salaries are fixed by law.
A VCIJ analysis of Virginia public salary data from 2025 shows a wide range of pay over the state’s 170,000 employees – from entry-level positions at the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control (median pay of $8,000) to executives managing the state’s retirement fund (up to $800,000). One in 10 Virginia public employees earned more than $137,000.
The biggest winners, however, were in athletic departments, regardless of their win-loss records, according to salary data. Other high-earning state employees served as university presidents, retirement fund managers, health care executives and doctors affiliated with medical schools. The data include only salaries funded by the state.
Despite his seven-figure salary, Elliott does not hold the most lucrative football coaching contract in the Commonwealth. That title goes to Virginia Tech’s James Franklin, who signed a $41 million 5-year contract in November 2025. He took over from Brenton Pry, whom the university fired following a dismal start last season. Pry earned a total pay of $500,000 last year, salary data reviewed by VCIJ shows.
Elliott’s contract extension still leaves his salary below several other coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Bill Belichick, head football coach at the University of North Carolina, earned about $10 million in 2025. North Carolina State’s head football coach also earned about $6.2 million in the 2025 season.
Twelve public employees earned more than $1 million. Nearly half were in college athletics, reflecting the role of high pay in universities’ effort to attract and retain successful coaches and athletic administrators.
Athletics departments produce millions in revenue. University of Virginia’s athletics department alone generated over $153 million in revenue in the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
University leaders also command top compensation, as hiring committees compete for top candidates.“Universities are in a tough spot to find a willing and highly competent president,” said Taylor Odle, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Last year, UVA President Scott Beardsley was the highest-paid public university president in Virginia, earning $1.32 million. Beardsley, dean of the Darden School of Business, was appointed UVA president on Dec. 19, 2025, after a bitter political fight unseated former president Jim Ryan.
The next highest-paid president was Virginia Commonwealth University’s Michael Rao, who earned a little over $1 million.
Executive pay at universities rarely comes with no strings attached, said Odle, whose 2021 research examined the role a university’s prestige and reputation play in executive compensation. The study concludes that executive salaries rise as universities compete for talented leaders, similar to private-sector CEOs.
“University of Virginia's annual operating revenue is about $6 billion,” Odle told VCIJ. “If someone ran a Fortune 100 company and earned a million dollars, you wouldn't really bat an eye at that, right?”
University presidents' compensation may include performance bonuses because the job has become riskier and subject to outside politics, he said. University executives are also often rewarded for reaching fundraising targets.
UVA spokesperson Brian Coy said the university's Board of Visitors decides on executive pay after advice from the board’s executive compensation committee.
Beardsley’s employment contract states he will be evaluated annually by the board. “The evaluation shall be based on the achievement of mutually agreed-upon performance objectives determined by the Board of Visitors and Mr. Beardsley,” the contract reads.
Spending on salaries
Data provided by UVA shows that the university employed over 25,000 people across its medical center and campuses in Charlottesville and Wise last year, making it the top employer in the state.
UVA’s Executive Vice President of Health Affairs, Dr. Mitchell Rosner, earned over $1.6 million, making him the highest-earning university executive outside of athletic departments.
UVA’s scale as a public employer extends well beyond the top earners. Of the 147 public employees who earned at least $500,000 in 2025, one in four worked for either UVA or the UVA Medical Center.
See how public salaries compare with our interactive calculator
Virginia’s public institutions and agencies spent over $11 billion on salaries in 2025. UVA’s campuses and its medical center account for more than a fifth of the spending.
After UVA, Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University had the largest payrolls among Virginia’s public institutions. Virginia Tech paid nearly $850 million in employee compensation, while VCU spent more than $700 million.
Even though all employees in the data reviewed by VCIJ are public workers, wide disparities exist between top and bottom earners. In 100 state agencies and institutions, at least 30% of employees earned less than Virginia’s census-estimated per capita income of $50,666.
HOW WE GOT THE STORY
VCIJ compiled and analyzed public data from the Virginia Department of Accounts and state universities that handle payroll independently, including the University of Virginia, Old Dominion University, James Madison University, George Mason University, and others. VCIJ obtained the data through multiple public records requests.
Reach Kunle Falayi at Kunle.Falayi@vcij.org.