Sunshine Sentinel

7.6 percent of employees at the Florida Department of State made between $75,000 and $100,000 in 2022, according to financial documents from Florida Has a Right to Know.

Across the state, most employees made between $25,000 and $50,000.

Manuel Diaz Jr. had the highest salary among employees in the state, earning $299,574 for the year.

With 259,274 employee records, the State of Florida's average employee pay is $47,164 in 2022. This is 24.7 percent lower than the average state salary and 29.7 percent lower than the national average for government workers.

Florida's minimum wage increased to $11.00 per hour in 2022, while the required cash pay for employees who get tips is up to $7.98.

Data provided by Florida Has a Right to Know does not include the legislature, state university system, benefit-only entities, or municipal and county government employees.

Rank	Individual	Department	Salary
1	Manuel Diaz Jr.	Florida Department of Education	$299,574
2	Jared W. Perdue	Florida Department of Transportation	$270,000
3	Yolanda C. Hernandez	Florida Department of Children and Families	$251,939
4	Ernesto J. Lamadrid	Florida Department of Children and Families	$243,719
5	Jorge Labarga	Florida State Courts System	$239,442
5	John D. Couriel	Florida State Courts System	$239,442
5	Charles T. Canady	Florida State Courts System	$239,442
5	Renatha Francis	Florida State Courts System	$239,442
5	Carlos Muniz	Florida State Courts System	$239,442
5	Jamie G. Grosshans	Florida State Courts System	$239,442
11	Ulyee Choe	Florida Department of Health	$231,836
12	Comoche Lamothe	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,759
12	Fernand Francois Serge Gautier	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,759
12	Deliana Torres-Gonzalez	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,759
15	Eduardo Infante	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Koa-Shun Wu	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Clifton Rudolph Lake	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Saim Karakas	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Rajeshwar Kartan	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	James A. Yelton	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Rasik Patel	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Masood Akhter Khan	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	John P. Johnston	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Richard S. Hamilton	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Abolfazl Sadat-Mansouri	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Lauren M. Thomas	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Teresita A. Balza	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Syed Zaber Mahmud	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
15	Muhammad Shah	Florida Department of Children and Families	$229,758
30	Jean Daniel Policard	Florida Department of Children and Families	$223,067
31	Alina M. Alonso	Florida Department of Health	$210,760
31	Paula M. Thaqi	Florida Department of Health	$210,760
31	Kerrian Audia-Marie Hazley	Florida Department of Health	$210,760
34	Thomas P. Poirier	Florida Department of Health	$205,391
35	Dennis W. Ward	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Melissa A. Nelson	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Robert R. Lockwood	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Jessica J. Yeary	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Laurence L. Eger	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Michael A. Graves	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Julianne M. Holt	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Craig C. Villanti	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Kerry I. Evander	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Rachel E. Nordby	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Scott D. Makar	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Stevan T. Northcutt	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Bruce A. Miller	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Bronwyn C. Miller	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Cory J. Ciklin	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Jeffrey T. Kuntz	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Morris Silberman	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Howard L. Dimmig	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	John M. Harris	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Jonathan D. Gerber	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Suzanne Youmans Labrit	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Susan H. Rothstein-Youakim	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Monique Haughton Worrell	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Bruce L. Bartlett	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Carey S. Haughwout	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Harvey L. Jay III	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Brian D. Lambert	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Larry R. Basford	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Frederic R. Wallis	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Robert B. Trettis	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Jay P. Cohen	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	William M. Gladson	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Ivan F. Fernandez	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Martha C. Warner	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Ginger B. Madden	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Edward C. Larose	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Daniel Sleet	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Andrea Smith	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Eric W. Hendon	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Mary K. Thomas	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Clifton W. Wilson Jr.	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Burton C. Conner	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Timothy D. Osterhaus	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Andrew H. Warren	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	David A. Aronberg	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Monica Gordo	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Sara B. Mollo	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Meredith Sasso	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Brian W. Haas	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Robert J. Morris Jr.	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Spencer D. Levine	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Gordon H. Weekes Jr.	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Edwin Scales	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Henry M. Sims	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Alan O. Forst	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Diamond R. Litty	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Joseph Lewis Jr.	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Daniel E. Traver	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Ross L. Bilbrey	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Norma S. Lindsey	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	John F. Durrett	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	Anthony K. Black	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Robert Wesley	Florida Justice Administrative Commission	$202,440
35	John Stargel	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Patricia J. Kelly	Florida State Courts System	$202,440
35	Thomas W. Logue	Florida State Courts System	$202,440