Sunshine Week: How much does your town administrator make?

Don Seiburg gets up early on Wednesdays and Saturdays to help open the Andover Transfer Station and let residents through at 7 a.m. sharp.

As the town administrator, he likes to lead by example.

In the past few weeks alone, he’s crawled into a jammed trash compactor, shoveled sidewalks, snowblowed driveways and shepherded Andover through its annual Town Meeting.

If someone calls in sick, he’s ready to step in. He hasn’t had to jump behind the wheel of a plow truck yet, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility for his role, he said.

“It’s a really cool and dynamic job,” said Seiburg, who started as town administrator in September 2024. “It’s extremely busy, and that’s one of the things I love about it, is just the variety of work that you can get into.”

Seiburg, who reports to the five-member Select Board, oversees Town Hall and Andover’s municipal departments, works on the annual budget, supervises development projects, manages tax abatements and property assessments, conducts visits as the health officer, connects residents with municipal resources and answers any questions that come his way.

A now-retired helicopter pilot, he has a background in financial accounting, engineering, project management and customer service, all of which come into play on a daily basis.

In 2025, Seiburg made ,000 in his role. He’s hoping to receive a raise that will bump him up to ,000 this year. Still, it’s one of the lowest-paying jobs he’s ever had.

Compared to other town administrators in the area, his wages are, indeed, on the lower side. However, Seiburg’s salary is comparable to that of people in his community, falling just below the median household income.

The Monitor collected data on the salaries of the administrators and managers in 20 communities around Merrimack County for 2025. In smaller municipalities, residents pay more per person towards these executives’ salaries. Notably, in Concord and Franklin, city managers earn much more than members of their communities do.

In Webster, Town Administrator Dana Hadley finds himself in a similar boat as Seiburg. He’s later in his career and could afford to take a job with lower pay now that he’s already put his children through college and isn’t “as concerned about money anymore.”

“Obviously, it’s a responsible job, and people need to make a good salary here in Webster,” he said. “You have to be mindful of what they can afford.”

Webster has the second-lowest town administrator salary of the places the Monitor collected data. While smaller than Andover by 500 residents, the median household income in Webster is about ,000 more.

Size and income

The Monitor’s analysis found that the towns of Warner and Allenstown pay considerable sums for their administrators relative to their total populations. Allenstown stands out further when compared with residents’ wages. At 0,000, Town Administrator John Harrington makes about ,000 more than the median household income.

On the other end of the scale, Loudon pays its top employee ,202 per year, which is less than several other smaller communities.

Concord’s highest-ranking municipal employee is City Manager Tom Aspell, who made 3,371 last year. As the head of a city, Aspell oversees more money and more employees than his counterparts in other communities, which accounts for his outsized salary. Compared to the community as a whole, Aspell earns almost triple the wages of average households in Concord.

By contrast, with a salary of ,209 in 2025, Canterbury’s town administrator, Ken Folsom, made the least of any of the employees the Monitor surveyed. His position is part-time at 32 hours a week with no healthcare or retirement. Still, Folsom is paid about half of what a typical household earns in town.

Job duties

While town/city managers have statutory responsibilities inscribed in state law and operate with more autonomy, such as the power to hire and fire employees, town administrators fill a nebulous role. Both officials ultimately answer to a Select Board or City Council, but this governing body has much more discretion to define the administrator role to meet the town’s needs — and the board retains more power, rather than delegating some of it as they would to a town manager.

“I think that each town has its own unique duties,” said Hadley, who has worked in several municipalities of varying sizes throughout his career. “However, there are many duties that are shared between towns, and my job is, if you will, the chief operating officer to coordinate the town.”

Like his counterparts, he knows that the job requires a certain flexibility of skills.

“Many times in a smaller community, you have to do a little more because you have less people working for you that would normally do that,” he said. “For example, here I have to do a lot of the clerical work that needs to be done myself, whereas in a town like Peterborough, or where I was in Vermont, I had someone that did that.”

While examining municipal wages, the Monitor reached out to 17 town administrators, one town manager and two city managers. Some said they did not have job descriptions. Others said they didn’t have contracts.

In Pembroke, Town Administrator David Jodoin doubles as the tax collector. He said position maxes out at 2,000. He also handles town finances, whereas some communities have a designated accountant or finance director.

Aside from the managers, Jodoin makes the most of any town administrator included in the Monitor’s wage study. Pembroke is one of the largest towns in the area, with a population of over 7,500 people.

The three local town/city managers all received more financial compensation than their town administrator counterparts — a reflection of their increased responsibilities. Bow Town Manager David Stack earned nearly 0,000 in 2025.

In Franklin, with a population of over 8,800 people, City Manager Mitchel Kloewer earns 5,000.

Administrator and manager salaries depend on a variety of factors, including the size of a community and its financial resources, said Margaret Byrnes, executive director of the New Hampshire Municipal Association.

“It really does vary on what the expectations are, what the municipal budget is, what the municipal voters have an appetite for,” she said.

Some towns, especially really small ones, don’t even have a town administrator. Epsom, for example, has an administrative assistant and a finance administrator instead.

Hiring and retention

Given the trouble attracting and retaining qualified municipal employees — something Byrnes said is a challenge across the state — communities remain mindful of what they’re offering for wages.

“Often towns look around at what towns, both in their geographic region as well as in their relative size, are doing for salaries and benefits to try to stay in line with what’s sort of an acceptable baseline for a salary for that type of position,” she said.

This conversation took center stage last year in Chichester after town administrator Jodi Pinard resigned and was rehired with a ,000 increase, eliciting pushback from residents at the 0,000 salary. The Board of Selectmen argued they needed to pay more to attract and retain qualified municipal employees, but after a few months, they moved to reduce her salary to the original ,000, which she declined to accept. Now, current town administrator Cynthia Starkweather earns ,000 a year.

Weare, with a population of over 9,000, is searching for a new town administrator. The 2025 salary for that position was 0,000. In its job search, the town is willing to pay up to 5,000 annually to fill the role, according to outgoing administrator Naomi Bolton.

The New Hampshire Municipal Association is looking at ways to help support towns in navigating these challenges.

Town hall jobs, although fulfilling, can be difficult, especially given that an administrator or manager is often the face of the town and subject to the frustrations of the people who live there, said Byrnes.

“It’s wonderful to be part of the community and to help make change and push initiatives through and help the town progress and do the things and reach goals that it wants to reach. But these jobs can be tough. We know that civility is not at its peak right now in sort of the public and the governmental spheres,” she said.

Some residents may know their town administrator or manager well. Others may never have met them. Seiburg encouraged residents everywhere to get to know the people who help keep their community running.

“My door — as for most town administrators — the door is, literally and figuratively always open,” he said. “And send an email, pick up the phone and call or better yet, just stop in and say ‘hi.’”

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