These are the highest paid Missouri state employees. One made over $500K in 2024
Your Missouri tax dollars pay for salaries of state employees: from senators and judges to traffic engineers and accountants. But who makes the most?
In 2024, 2,339 state employees were paid over $100,000 a year, out of more than 72,000 people on the state payroll.
Governments are required by law to share how much they pay their employees. Missouri publishes salary information on the state’s accountability portal.
You will not see some well-known faces on the list, like Missouri coaches Eliah Drinkwitz and Dennis Gates, because university employees are paid by their educational institutions, according to Chris Moreland, spokesperson for the Missouri Office of Administration.
Also, municipal, county and federal officials are also not included. This is because they are paid by the city, county or federal budget.
The pre-tax salary includes overtime and bonuses.
Here are how much top Missouri officials were paid in 2024:
Missouri supreme court judges: $201,069
Mike Parsons, former governor: $142,658
Andrew Bailey, attorney general: $124,126
Jay Ashcroft, former secretary of state: $114,860
Mike Kehoe, former lieutenant governor: $92,195
All Missouri senators: $40,092
All Missouri representatives: $39,264
Some of the highest paid employees were psychiatrists, doctors, judges and department heads. Psychiatrists work in state mental hospitals, and some also work at state prisons, Moreland said.
Here are the 10 highest paid Missouri employees in 2024.
Manisha M. Lele, psychiatrist, mental health department : $509,933
Omagbemi A. Buwa, psychiatrist, mental health department: $475,770
Sekhar Vangala, psychiatrist, mental health department: $424,932
Naveen K. Yarasi, psychiatrist, mental health department: $410,930
Nezar A. El-Ruwie, psychiatrist, mental health department: $394,469
Robert B. Sexe, physician, mental health department: $380,089
Jamal A. Zereik, staff physician, mental health department: $363,494
Amala Kumar D. Augustine, staff physician specialist, mental health department: $362,433
Dale Switzer, psychiatrist, mental health department: $356,639
Angeline Stanislaus, medical administrator, mental health department: $350,510
Look through the more than 2,000 Missouri employees paid over $100,000 in 2024.
Have more questions about where your Missouri tax dollars go? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
