Ask a town administrator what their job entails, and odds are they’ll chuckle before telling you, “everything.”
Nicole MacStay, who’s run Peterborough for the past five years, oversees anywhere from 175 to 220 employees, depending on the season. She reports to the three-member Select Board and is responsible for ensuring the gears of local government grind on: from property assessments to town finances to public works.
“It’s probably the most interesting job I ever imagined being able to have,” said MacStay, who was born and raised in town.
A big part of her role is coordinating between departments to make sure all the bases are covered. For example, MacStay said, the Public Works Department is planning some bridge work, so she met with that director, spoke with engineers, put the project out to bid and facilitated a traffic detour plan involving the police and fire chiefs. She’ll also communicate those plans with the post office, anticipating that it will impact mail delivery routes.
“I think a lot of people are unaware of how much actually goes into providing the municipal services they rely on,” MacStay said. “There is an awful lot that is going on behind the scenes that we’re doing on behalf of the residents and property owners here.”
With a salary of $151,424, MacStay is the highest-earning town administrator in the Monadnock area. She has worked for the town government since 2006.
The median annual pay is $95,000, though some are as low as $21,100 for a part-time position in Sharon, the Ledger-Transcript found in an analysis of the self-reported salaries of 15 town administrators, town managers and administrative assistants across the region.
Temple did not disclose the salary of its Select Board assistant, Carole Singleais. In 2025, it spent $64,264 on “town administration,” according to the town report.
Not every municipality has a town administrator. Temple and Mason employ administrative assistants, while Jon Frederick serves as a town manager in Jaffrey.
As a town manager, Frederick’s responsibilities are outlined in state statute, with explicit control over Jaffrey’s finances and administrative supervision over all departments.
Town administrators serve many of those same functions, though their roles can be much more flexible to the needs of the town.
“It fluctuates a lot,” said Max Vandervliet, who came to Rindge last fall. He jumped right into budget season ahead of town meeting, and now that that’s over, he’s conducting a wage study of the police department and fashioning a new licensing structure for short-term rentals that he hopes can bring in more revenue to the town.
Debbie Deaton, the town administrator in New Ipswich, views her role as a liaison between the Select Board, the residents and town employees.
Unexpected questions and challenges pop up every day. For example, a resident recently called Deaton to ask how to dispose of a rock in their yard.
“You name it, it falls here,” she said.
It can be a stressful role, she added, but she wouldn’t trade it.
“It’s fun … Honestly, I love my job,” Deaton said. “It’s something different every day.”
What the data says
In its analysis, the Ledger-Transcript compared the self-reported salary amounts with income and population data from the 2024 census.
Though administrators in the area’s largest towns — think Peterborough and Rindge — near the top of the list, town administrators’ salaries do not appear to directly correlate with population size or median household income.
For instance, Jonathan Coyne of Hancock and Debbie Deaton of New Ipswich both make $95,000 annually. Hancock is home to less than 2,000 people; New Ipswich has 5,400.
In Peterborough, Rindge, Jaffrey and Greenville, town executives earn tens of thousands more than their neighbors; in towns like Greenfield, Lyndeborough, Hancock and Antrim, it is mostly on par. On the lower end of the scale is Kate Fuller of Dublin, whose $78,348 salary is roughly $26,000 lower than the median household income of $104,659.
Across all job titles, median earnings for women, at $78,348, were far below the men’s, at $104,832. Two of the women work as lower-paid administrative assistants or part-time, while one of the men serves as a town manager, a role that typically receives higher pay.
Taking out all other positions and comparing only full-time town administrators, the differential still exists, though it’s less pronounced. The median pay for female, full-time town administrators is $87,832, compared to $102,000 among the men. Nationally, women earn 80 to 85 cents for every dollar men earn.
Engaging the public
Though much of the day-to-day for town administrators involves responding to questions and feedback, they also try to inform residents about how their local government works.
Vandervleit, who came to Rindge in September after overseeing a population of 205,000 people as a district manager in New York City, said he likes small-town governance.
It’s more tangible in Rindge, with a population more than 30 times smaller than his previous home. He likes interacting with people on a more granular level.
“Frankly, it’s good to be informed,” Vandervliet said.
For Jamie Pike, who has spent the past decade at the helm in Francestown, the biggest challenge is not managing town finances or creating policies with the Select Board. It’s getting residents engaged.
If he does his job well and the town runs smoothly, Pike said, residents tend not to get involved; they get their tax bill and “keep on living.” It’s difficult, at that point, to persuade people to participate, learn and guide the future of their town.
“People show up to town meetings unprepared,” Pike said. “They haven’t done the background work … You’ve got to get them engaged early in these processes.”
Despite all the hiccups and wrinkles that town administrators are presented with each day, each one who spoke to the Ledger-Transcript said they take pride in their service.
“Helping residents with the things that matter and watching projects come to life, MacStay said, is “truly rewarding work.”
“I can’t see myself doing anything else,” Pike said.
