A Little Something Extra
Which agencies are the most generous with executive bonuses--and which are the stingiest?
Nearly 60 percent of career senior executives earned a bonus last year-to the tune of $13,734 on average. Those figures are from Office of Personnel Management statistics on 2004 bonuses. But how do agencies compare to one another?
It pays to be a rocket scientist. NASA gave the highest bonuses on average, with a typical award of $17,483. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was second with bonuses of $16,946. The Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs departments were the only others in the $16,000 range.
Executives at the Housing and Urban Development Department fell at the low end of the scale. Their average bonus was $8,092-although more than 60 percent of HUD executives received extra cash.
The Interior Department gave only 30 percent of its executives bonuses while the State Department awarded bonuses to almost 33 percent.
Where is the most likely place to pocket something extra? The Small Business Administration. SBA gave all of its executives a bonus in 2004.
The General Services Administration, which awarded 97.3 percent of career executives a bonus, followed SBA.
Here's rundown of average bonuses and the number of executives receiving them, by agency.
| Agency | Eligible Execs | Execs Getting Bonuses | Average Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 280 | 81.4% | $15,861 |
| AID | 17 | 52.9% | $8,889 |
| Commerce | 263 | 77.9% | $12,299 |
| Defense | 1,049 | 43.4% | $16,958 |
| Education | 60 | 67.8% | $10,325 |
| Energy | 347 | 64.0% | $8,863 |
| EPA | 264 | 50.4% | $11,797 |
| GSA | 75 | 97.3% | $12,705 |
| HHS | 307 | 70.2% | $12,536 |
| Homeland Security | 204 | 46.6% | $16,424 |
| HUD | 69 | 60.9% | $8,092 |
| Interior | 219 | 30.1% | $13,017 |
| Justice | 523 | 56.5% | $11,858 |
| Labor | 141 | 89.4% | $11,999 |
| NASA | 401 | 42.6% | $17,483 |
| NRC | 150 | 62.0% | $16,946 |
| OMB | 55 | 48.3% | $10,100 |
| OPM | 42 | 69.0% | $15,044 |
| SBA | 30 | 100.0% | $9,518 |
| SSA | 133 | 63.2% | $14,419 |
| State | 125 | 32.8% | $11,037 |
| Transportation | 180 | 51.4% | $10,790 |
| Treasury | 386 | 64.4% | $15,607 |
| VA | 262 | 89.3% | $16,287 |
| All Others | 266 | 56.4% | $12,360 |
| GOVERNMENTWIDE | 5,848 | 58.2% | $13,734 |
Source: Office of Personnel Management