Charlotte quietly approved raise for city manager. Here’s how much he makes now
Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones quietly received a 2.5% pay raise in August, a city spokesperson confirmed Monday. He’ll now make about $511,690 per year.
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The council approved his raise in a closed session meeting on Aug. 17.
Jones is the city’s highest-paid employee. The latest raise is notably smaller than past years, but it still represents an increase of more than $12,000 to his base salary.
The city has routinely voted on raises in private for top city employees including the manager, attorney and clerk, which attorneys previously told The Charlotte Observer was likely a violation of North Carolina open meetings laws.
The mayor typically announces the raises at a subsequent public meeting but has not done so as of Monday. Recent council meetings have spilled into late night hours as the city tackles issues including the data center moratorium and the Interstate 77 South toll lanes project.
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Charlotte hired Jones as city manager in 2016, and the City Council regularly gave him raises of 5% or higher. In 2024 he received a 5% pay bump, and in 2022 his raise was 14%. Both were approved during closed sessions.
The city did not elaborate on how it determined the percentage of Jones’ pay increase this year.
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This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 3:58 PM.
