Four hundred of the 402 top paid employees in Boston work for the police and fire departments.
The Center Square's analysis of total gross pay in 2021 revealed overtime as a significant contributor to many of those paychecks, with 39 of the 400 earning more than $300,000.
The Boston mayor's office and the Boston Police Department did not respond to emails requesting comment on The Center Square's public records findings.
The employee with the most overtime earnings in 2021 was a police lieutenant. He picked up $167,509 in overtime and had a total gross pay of $378,690, seventh highest in the city. The number of full-time public safety employees, which includes police, fire, and emergency management, in the city has remained level over the past decade, increasing only slightly from 4,446 in 2012 to 4,460 in 2021.