RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The highest-earning state employee in 2022 was the director of the North Carolina Museum of Art, records obtained by CBS 17 News show.

With the year drawing to a close, CBS 17 News analyzed a database obtained from the Office of the State Controller that shows the annual base salaries or hourly pay rates of more than 81,000 state government employees.

Of those whose wages were released as annual salaries, a total of 3,983 of them — or, less than 5 percent — make at least $100,000.

And 175 of those earned more than $200,000. Ten made $300,000 or more.

The agency with the most employees on the list is the Division of Adult Correction, with more than 14,000 of them. But only 1.6 percent of them make at least $100,000.

Conversely, about 5 percent of the nearly 14,000 people listed as employees of the Department of Health and Human Services make six figures, according to the database. 

NCDHHS employs six of the 10 highest-paid state employees, led by Dr. George Krebs Jr., a Morganton-based psychiatrist and the agency’s chief medical officer who makes $333,381 — the state’s second-highest salary.

James P. Mayo Jr., a Goldsboro psychiatrist listed as a Medical Director II for the agency, makes $328,471, the fifth-highest.

Roughly two-thirds of those making more than $200,000 are in NCDHHS, with nearly 20 percent working in adult correction — led by Brian Barry Sheitman, the chief of psychiatry for the state Department of Public Safety, who makes $317,656.

But the overall No. 1 spot belongs to Valerie Hillings, who took over at the state’s museum of art in 2018 after holding senior positions for the Guggenheim Museum and Foundation. She makes $336,274, those records show.

The state’s chief investment officers — Jeffrey Smith and Christopher Morris — each rank in the top 11, with Smith making $332,871 and Morris earning $292,436.

Nearly 55,000 full time permanent employees had a median salary of $49,312. Their average salary was slightly higher, at $51,482.

Gov. Roy Cooper makes $165,750, while Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and the other members of the Council of State earn $146,421 apiece.

The list does not include employees of the state’s public schools, the General Assembly, the UNC System or UNC Hospitals. 

Among some whose salaries were disclosed as hourly rates was William Sidney Carver II, who took over as interim president of the state’s community college system on July 25. 

The database shows him earning $140.26 an hour — which means a 40-hour work week would result in a $291,741 salary.