Department of Community Affairs

Department of Community Affairs anchors a workforce of 1,150 employees, one of the biggest payrolls in state government.

The most common title is Field Representative Housing, Housing Assistance Program (12% of staff), followed by Inspector 1 Multiple Dwellings and Subcode Official. Median pay is $81,897, about 3% below the statewide median.

Median tenure is 5.1 years, shorter than the statewide median of 9.6 years. CWA represents the largest share of its unionized workforce (about 71%).

About Department of Community Affairs

The Department of Community Affairs administers housing programs, sets and enforces the Uniform Construction Code and fire safety code, and provides oversight and technical assistance to local governments through the Division of Local Government Services.

The department is built around field work. Housing field representatives administer rental assistance in the field, inspectors cover multiple dwellings and fire safety, and subcode officials handle construction code review. Contract administrators manage the grant and program agreements that flow to municipalities. IFPTE represents the inspection titles, which is why the union mix here differs from a purely professional agency. Median tenure is short by state standards, so a meaningful share of this workforce joined recently.

Who works here

These are the titles that carry the most people on this payroll. Each one links to its civil service specification, which sets out the duties, the minimum requirements and the salary range.

• Field Representative Housing, Housing Assistance Program135 employees
  11.7% of staff · median $61,382 · CWA
• Inspector 1 Multiple Dwellings70 employees
  6.1% of staff · median $70,957 · IFPTE
• Subcode Official68 employees
  5.9% of staff · median $97,010 · CWA
• Government Representative 231 employees
  2.7% of staff · median $115,000
• Technical Assistant30 employees
  2.6% of staff · median $48,012 · CWA
• Technical Assistant 130 employees
  2.6% of staff · median $62,978 · CWA
• Contract Administrator 223 employees
  2.0% of staff · median $79,789 · CWA
• Inspector 1 Fire Safety21 employees
  1.8% of staff · median $68,314 · IFPTE
• Technical Assistant 220 employees
  1.7% of staff · median $73,376 · CWA
• Compliance Officer 1 Code Enforcement18 employees
  1.6% of staff · median $79,858 · IFPTE
• Senior Field Representative Housing, Housing Assistance Program18 employees
  1.6% of staff · median $79,201 · CWA
• Administrative Analyst 417 employees
  1.5% of staff · median $119,047 · CWA

At least 100 distinct titles appear on this agency's payroll. The 12 largest are listed above. Government Representative 2 is a catch-all title used for very different jobs across agencies, so the median pay shown against it covers a wide mix of roles and does not describe a single position.

Titles you will not find elsewhere

28 of this agency's titles are concentrated here rather than shared across departments, and for 27 of them every single position in the state sits on this payroll.

• Field Representative Housing, Housing Assistance Programall 135 statewide
  only at this agency
• Inspector 1 Multiple Dwellingsall 70 statewide
  only at this agency
• Subcode Officialall 68 statewide
  only at this agency
• Inspector 1 Fire Safetyall 21 statewide
  only at this agency
• Senior Field Representative Housing, Housing Assistance Programall 18 statewide
  only at this agency
• Field Representative Housing Trainee Housing Assistance Programall 15 statewide
  only at this agency
• Inspector 2 Multiple Dwellingsall 13 statewide
  only at this agency
• Technical Assistant, Construction Monitoring11 of 12 statewide
  92% of the statewide total

Concentration is measured against the same payroll file, comparing this agency's headcount in a title with the statewide headcount in that title.

How pay is spread

Below are the quartile boundaries for this agency's salaries, with the statewide equivalents alongside them for reference.

The middle half of this agency's employees earn between $66,142 and $103,509, a ratio of 1.56 between the two quartiles. State government as a whole sits at 1.81, so this agency's pay is bunched more tightly than average, which tends to happen where one or two large titles carry most of the staff.

• Lowest recorded salary$12,000
• Lower quartile$66,142
  statewide $62,428
• Median salary$81,897
  statewide $84,796
• Upper quartile$103,509
  statewide $113,264
• Highest recorded salary$162,870

Based on 1,062 salaried records, with 13 statistical outliers excluded from the quartile calculation.

Union representation

Which contract covers a job decides its salary schedule, its step ladder and its grievance route. This is the union mix on this payroll.

• CWA813 employees
  70.7% of the agency
• IFPTE158 employees
  13.7% of the agency
• IBEW22 employees
  1.9% of the agency

Union coverage is identifiable for 86% of this agency's payroll records. The remainder are unclassified, exempt or managerial positions that sit outside a bargaining unit.

How long people stay

Tenure tells you something a salary table cannot: whether this is a place people arrive at or a place they stay.

Half of this agency's employees have been on the state payroll longer than 5.1 years, well short of the statewide median of 9.6. 50% joined within the last five years, and 17% have twenty years or more behind them.

• Under 5 years545 employees
  49.6% of those with a hire date
• 5 to 10 years203 employees
  18.5% of those with a hire date
• 10 to 15 years102 employees
  9.3% of those with a hire date
• 15 to 20 years59 employees
  5.4% of those with a hire date
• 20 to 25 years99 employees
  9.0% of those with a hire date
• 25 years or more91 employees
  8.3% of those with a hire date

Hire dates are present for 1,099 of this agency's 1,150 payroll records.

Overtime

94 employees here recorded overtime, 8.2% of the agency, against 31.6% across state government. Little overtime usually means salaried professional work with no shift to fill.

Together they were paid $366,584 in overtime, averaging $3,900 for each employee who earned any. Overtime is not part of the salary figures elsewhere on this page, which report base pay.

• Employees with recorded overtime94
• Share of the agency8.2%
• Total overtime paid$366,584
• Average per employee earning it$3,900

Civil service coverage

85% of this agency's payroll records carry a title that matches a published civil service specification. The rest are unclassified, exempt or agency-specific positions filled outside the competitive examination process, so the standard exam and eligible list route covers most but not all of the jobs here.

• Records matched to a specification974
• Records with no matching specification176
• Distinct civil service titles on the roster100 or more

Where it sits among state agencies

By headcount this is the 15th largest of the 39 payroll lines in New Jersey state government, holding 1.5% of the state workforce.

Its nearest neighbours by headcount, for readers who want a like-for-like comparison.

• Office of Public Defender1,347 employees
  median $98,503
• Office of Legislative Services1,195 employees
  median $101,140
• Juvenile Justice Commission1,096 employees
  median $83,817
• Department of Education766 employees
  median $118,678