Honolulu Salaries 2012 — Common Jobs and Names
UPDATED 4/26/2012 9:30 p.m.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series exploring Honolulu government salaries. Read previous articles here:
Are you a Honolulu firefighter? Perhaps your last name is Lee? Or maybe you’re a government employee whose first name, like mine, is Michael?
If any of those statements apply to you, you’re not alone. Far from it.
Civil Beat’s analysis of nearly 8,500 Honolulu government salaries found that Fire Fighter I is the most common job title, with 449 workers. For the second straight year, Lee is the most common surname, with 89 people with that last name working for the city. And Michael is the most common first name across city government — there are 146.
The full database of 8,467 names and salaries is missing some 2,000 police officers because the Honolulu Police Department says they could be undercover and their identities should be protected from disclosure. Taking that into account, here are the most common job titles and the pay ranges of those employees:
| Rank | Job Title | Count | Salary Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fire Fighter I | 449 | $48,324 – $63,564 |
| 2 | Grounds Keeper | 242 | $33,228 |
| 3 | Fire Fighter III | 241 | $56,508 – $74,364 |
| 4 | Recreation Aide (Summer) | 224 | $20,862^ |
| 5 | Fire Captain | 202 | $66,108 – $86,988 |
| 6 | Summer Student Aide III | 157 | $20,758^ |
| 7 | Senior Clerk Typist | 151 | $26,364 – $40,548 |
| 8 | Summer Swim Aide | 145 | $25,376^ |
| 9 | Summer Student Aide II | 138 | $17,784^ |
| 10 | Water Safety Officer II | 131 | $34,692 – $53,364 |
^ — Many of the employees with this job title are, as the title suggests, seasonal workers and are paid an hourly wage instead of an annual salary. The number provided for a salary is what those employees would make if they worked full-time for the whole year at the hourly wage the city provided.1
Last year, Civil Beat found that there were more Lees than any other surname in city government, and that the rest of the most common on the list were also Asian last names. Much of the countdown remains unchanged:
| Rank | Last Name | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee | 89 |
| 2 | Wong | 80 |
| 3 | Young | 47 |
| 4 | Chang | 43 |
| 5 | Chun | 35 |
| 6 (T) | Higa | 34 |
| 6 (T) | Kim | 34 |
| 6 (T) | Nakamura | 34 |
| 9 | Lau | 31 |
| 10 (T) | Ho | 28 |
| 10 (T) | Kam | 28 |
| 10 (T) | Lum | 28 |
| … | … | … |
| 16 | Silva | 26 |
Source: Civil Beat analysis of Honolulu salary data
The list of the most common first names appears to be made up entirely of male names — not unsurprising since most city employees are men. (More on that later this week as we explore how men and women working for the city are compensated.) Michael was the most common male baby name in the United States in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, .
| Rank | First Name | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael | 146 |
| 2 | David | 105 |
| 3 | John | 91 |
| 4 | James | 89 |
| 5 | Robert | 84 |
| 6 | Mark | 70 |
| 7 | William | 67 |
| 8 | Richard | 61 |
| 9 | Paul | 57 |
| 10 (T) | Brian | 54 |
| 10 (T) | Kevin | 54 |
| … | … | … |
| 33 | Karen | 34 |
Source: Civil Beat analysis of Honolulu salary data
There is just one city employee who fits all three common criteria. For today at least, firefighter Michael N. Lee can feel unique.
