Zebulon — “When one of our jobs is five percent less than the county average, we change our salary to match the county average,” Knightdale Town Manager Gary McConkey said. “That's how we stay competitive with the local market.”

Based on recent salary reports, Wendell, Zebulon and Knightdale offer competitive pay to their employees compared to other similar sized towns. Much of these figures is the result of location.

“We have hired a number of Wendell and Zebulon employees over the years and occasionally they have hired ours,” McConkey said. “When we do hire theirs we end up paying them more than their current salary there. Generally they won't leave for the same or less money and in most cases they exceed our minimum qualifications.”

Though salaries are similar, other factors apply.

What is known is police officers in all three towns are at or above the level of other like towns, but various factors make for variable pay in different areas.

For example, a town like Farmville, with a similar population at 4,600, has various highways, but doesn’t necessarily see the same crime rate Zebulon sees.

The same applies for all three towns.

Public safety officers in Knightdale average $43,134. Police officers in Wendell make, on average, $38,812, and $34,827 in Zebulon. Farmville averages $31,835 as of July.

With this information it would appear Knightdale pays a good deal more than the other towns, but it isn’t necessarily true. As in every town, job descriptions can call for different duties, and that’s just what Knightdale’s public safety officers do — more than just police work.

Zebulon Town Manager Rick Hardin elaborated on the topic, noting there’s more involved in how much a town pays its employees, as if a handful of defining characteristics aren’t enough.

“Different towns are going to be different, but think of it even on the level of job description,” Hardin said.

Hardin said a police officer in Zebulon may not have the same responsibilities as one in Farmville or Knightdale, making it hard to see the real difference in the salaries without comparing two jobs that aren’t entirely alike.

Wendell’s Town Manager, David Bone, said Wendell, too, offers its employees a figure suitable to the surrounding market.

“In general, we compete with other local jurisdictions in the Triangle market,” Bone said. “We compete with Knightdale, Clayton and Zebulon for employees on a fairly regular basis.”

As far as competition with Raleigh Police Department salaries, Bone said if a large competitor makes a large adjustment in its pay schedule, it does affect the market.

“This is why we try to annually adjust the pay schedules to reflect cost of living adjustments,” Bone said.

Wrightsville Beach, a town of around 2,600 citizens, has set salaries ranges that apply to more than one position, and then the figure is altered based on experience of any person in that position.

Zebulon has a greater population, at 4,600, but sets ranges much like Wrightsville Beach. The range for a fire chief and a planning director salary is $50,596-$75,896. But the average salary reveals a near $18,000 extra the chief makes more than the planning director. Differences like these are in many cases the result of job experience, or more importantly, years at that particular position.

Wrightsville Beach’s Town Manager, Robert Simpson, simply stated different towns are different.

“It’s a basic fallacy when salary surveys are done and towns are compared,” Simpson said. “No two communities are exactly alike. Much of how much we can pay employees regularly depends on if the economy allows for such qualified personnel.”

In that regard, Wrightsville Beach is similar to the three Eastern Wake County towns. All four towns have a healthy economy, but what causes this boom is two totally different things.

In Wake County it’s growth and expansion. Wrightsville Beach, on the other hand, is 95 percent developed, but is able to keep such high standards because of its geographic location and its tourist population.

It’s things like these that Simpson said make it hard to put two towns in the same boat. An example he used was crime rates — something virtually unheard of at the beach in the winter season, but something that walks through the town’s front door the minute the weather permits.

Simpson’s theory is if Zebulon and Farmville were looked at through a salary survey, it might indicate they have similar crime rates because of the high access to highways, making larger police force size or higher officer pay a good possibility. But Zebulon is outside of a major city and network of towns and Farmville is in a much more rural area.

As it turns out, Farmville’s Town Manager, Richard Hicks, insisted the crime rate is relatively low. He did mention, however, an increased growth rate.

“Our growth rate is probably only one percent, but in the last six months property has been sought on the regular,” Hicks said. “We’re the second largest industrial town to Greenville in Pitt County, and it seems like more people are taking interest in our town since ECU opened its medical complex and school of medicine, which is just 10 minutes down the road.”

Wendell, Knightdale, Farmville, Wrightsville Beach, Zebulon and Nashville have all done case studies and had market analysis decide where they stand in terms of payout.

Zebulon did an internal case study two years ago, while Farmville and Nashville completed studies by outside consultants in 2002.

Nashville Mayor Donald Street said the town has recently reviewed its wages based on the work description and then based upon the local norm.

A population nearing 4,700, Nashville’s salaries are the lowest of the four towns across the board. This appears to be the result of the surrounding area affecting the research. Towns around the triangle, then, pay more in general. The cost of living is higher as well.

Knightdale’s McConkey is currently paid $109,336, followed by Zebulon’s Hardin at $86,681 and Wendell’s Bone at $85,000. Farmville kept up with these towns, according to a 2007 study, averaging $85,001 in the manager position, followed by Wrightsville Beach at $78,104, but Nashville pays just $58,708.

This significant drop in Nashville’s figure is likely the result of the area and financial position the town is in to pay its employees. All of its positions are paid lower than the other three towns, on average, despite being of similar size.

Knightdale’s Richard Pope tops-off the Chief of Police pay at $85,740, Wendell’s Joseph Privette is paid $80,665 and Zebulon’s Tim Hayworth is paid $74,178. In this situation, of course, Pope could receive more pay than his locals due to the station’s duty to more than just policing.

Although Nashville’s Police Chief is payed $13,000-$20,000 less than those in Zebulon, Wrightsville Beach or Farmville, the town does pay its police officers an average right in the middle.

This suggests Nashville may be a town less affected by growth, while still finding a higher value in public safety.

“We have stuff happen every now and then, like kids coming through town and an occasional fight or something domestic, but for the most part crime is pretty low,” Street, said.