As the Cape Coral City Council considers whether or not to advance pay raises for themselves to the voters next year, we analyzed the data from other cities of comparable populations to give you an idea of how other mayors and city council members are compensated.
The Florida League of Cities (2023) data shows there are only 6 governmental municipalities in the state that are within 50,000 people (in either direction) of the population of Cape Coral. From those 6, one (Pembroke Pines in Broward) did not provide salary data and 2 others (Hialeah in Miami-Dade and St. Petersburg in Pinellas) have to be tossed because they have a strong-mayor style of government. Cape Coral has a strong-manager style of government.
Port St. Lucie, in St. Lucie County, has a population of about 240,000 with annual revenues of about $686 million. The Port St. Lucie mayor’s salary is approximately $94,000, council members make $64,000, and the manager makes $254,000.
The city of Tallahassee has a population of 202,000 people with annual revenues of $1.5 billion. The mayor of Tallahassee makes $97,000, city council members make $48,000 and the manager makes $282,000.
The city of Fort Lauderdale has a population of 190,000 with annual revenues of about $1.2 billion. The mayor of Fort Lauderdale makes $97,000 per year, city council members make $81,000, and the manager makes $284,000.
The most current Cape Coral data (2025) has the population at about 220,000 with a city budget of $1.4 billion. The mayor makes just under $40,000, city council members make $32,000, and the manager makes over $330,000.
Whether the Cape Coral mayor and council members get a pay raise may or may not be on the ballot in 2026. It requires a Charter change which has to be approved by the voters. The council may decide not to advance the pay raise idea at all and let it die. There still remains a stinging backlash from how the “stipend” was approved which could derail any chances for raises for years to come.
Every municipality is required by law to review their charter every 10 years. The Charter Review Commission is proposing salaries for city council members increase to $70,000 and the mayor’s salary increase to $80,000. Mayoral candidate Kara Rogers proposed a $160,000 salary for the mayor which would make her, if elected, the highest paid mayor in the state of Florida under a strong-manager style government.