The San Antonio mayor’s salary is $87,800 per year, effective with the term that began in May 2025. Voters set that figure by approving Proposition E on November 5, 2024, replacing the $61,725 salary that had been in place since 2015.1Ballotpedia. San Antonio, Texas, Proposition E, City Council Compensation Charter Amendment (November 2024) The ten city council members received a parallel raise, from $45,722 to $70,200.2City of San Antonio. Voter Information Guide These are gross figures, before taxes, health insurance, and retirement contributions.
How the Salary Adjusts Each Year
Proposition E did more than set a new dollar amount. It tied both the mayor’s and the council members’ pay to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s four-person household median income for the San Antonio area, and that benchmark is applied every year. So the $87,800 figure is a starting point for the current term, not a fixed number for the next decade.
The amendment also lets the mayor or any council member decline all or part of the compensation. And because elected-official pay sits in Article II, Section 6 of the City Charter, sitting officials can’t vote themselves a raise.3City of San Antonio. Charter of the City of San Antonio, Texas Any change has to go back to voters as a ballot proposition, which is how both the 2015 raise and Proposition E became law.
Benefits and Pension
The mayor is eligible for health insurance and participates in the Texas Municipal Retirement System, a statewide defined-benefit pension that covers employees of more than 940 Texas cities.4Texas Pension Review Board. Texas Municipal Retirement System Most participating cities vest employees at five years of service, though some use a ten-year schedule.5TMRS. TMRS Member Benefits Guide Mayors serve two-year terms with a four-term cap, so hitting the vesting threshold is possible but takes at least a couple of re-election wins.
Allowances for travel and vehicle use tied to city business may also apply, though the specific amounts for the mayor are not published in the same detail as those for the city manager.6San Antonio Report. San Antonio City Council Pay Mayor Pay
What a Full Mayoral Career Pays
San Antonio limits the mayor to four consecutive two-year terms, for a maximum of eight years in office.7San Antonio Report. Ron Nirenberg Cruises to Fourth and Final Term as San Antonio Mayor A 2008 charter amendment expanded the limit from two terms to four. At the current $87,800 rate, before any annual HUD-indexed adjustments, a mayor who serves the full eight years would collect about $702,400 in base pay across their tenure.
Why the Pay Is Lower Than in Other Big Cities
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the country, so an $87,800 salary strikes many people as low. The reason is structural. San Antonio uses a council-manager form of government: the mayor sets the council agenda, casts a single vote, handles ceremonial duties, and leads on policy, but day-to-day operations are run by an appointed city manager who functions as the municipal CEO.8San Antonio Report. San Antonio Government 101: Learn How City, County Are Run
That split shows up in the paychecks. City Manager Erik Walsh earns $461,000 per year as of January 2025, more than five times what the mayor makes.9TPR. San Antonio City Council Approves $87,000 Raise for City Manager and Makes His Term Indefinite Strong-mayor cities, where the mayor is the actual chief executive, pay very differently: Houston’s mayor earns roughly $236,000, Chicago’s about $221,000, and San Diego’s more than $244,000. Those mayors directly manage city workforces and operations. San Antonio’s mayor does not.
How the Pay Got Here
Before 2015, the mayor earned $4,040 per year, and council members got $20 per meeting, totaling roughly $1,040 annually.10City of San Antonio. Special Charter Amendment Election Voter Information Guide The office was treated as volunteer civic service, which in practice limited it to people with independent income or another job to lean on.
In May 2015, voters approved Charter Amendment No. 2. It tied council pay to the San Antonio area median household income (then $45,722) and set the mayor’s salary at 135% of that, or $61,725.11Ballotpedia. City of San Antonio Council and Mayor Salaries, Amendment 2 (May 2015) Those numbers held for nearly a decade until Proposition E replaced them with the current structure.