Ranked: The best places to work (and get paid) in the public service
Thursday, 15 January 2026
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The public servants who get paid the most are the least satisfied with their jobs.
Figures from the Public Service Census reveal the job satisfaction among New Zealand’s 65,000 public service, with about 68.5% responding to the questions about everything from job satisfaction to independence from ministers.
This includes bureaucrats working for government agencies such as the Treasury and coalface employees at places like Customs - but not the wider public sector of teachers and doctors.
Job satisfaction - best paid are least satisfied
Across the entire public sector about 62% of public servants said they were satisfied with their job.
Workers at the tiny Social Investment Agency were the least likely to say this - just 51% did - despite earning the highest average salary ($156,600). With just 78 staff as of September the agency is a minnow in the wider public sector - but it seems the high pay there is not enough to enable wider satisfaction.
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The workers with the highest satisfaction were at the Ministry of Defence (79% satisfied) followed by the Independent Children’s Monitor and the new Ministry for Regulation.
These agencies are all fairly small, with Defence - which is separate from the New Zealand Defence Force - only employing 188 people as of September and the others fewer than 100.
The most satisfied large agency was the Inland Revenue Department, which employs 4600 staff, with 71% of workers satisfied with their job.
The newly established Charter School Agency bucked the trend, with 68% of staff satisfied with their pay - an average salary of $140,700 - making it the second-most satisfied agency.
This suggests the agency, which was only established by the coalition Government in 2024, was able to offer competitive salaries.
The Ministry for Regulation - another new agency created by this Government - had the highest pay satisfaction in the public service at 75%, with an average salary of $149,900.
Pay satisfaction - diplomats the least satisfied
The census also asked public servants if they were specifically happy with what they were paid.
Interestingly, those who are the highest paid are often not the most satisfied.
Just 25% of those at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said they were satisfied with their pay - despite making an average salary of $128,600-.
And those at the Serious Fraud Office, who made on average $140,900, had just 39% of staff saying they were satisfied with their pay.
This likely reflects a workforce which might have peers in the private sector making higher salaries.
The inverse was also true - those in the Ministry for Culture and Heritage had the 21st highest average salary, but were the fifth-most likely to be satisfied with their pay.
The big operational agencies which employ thousands of staff were among the least satisfied. Just 25% of staff at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment were satisfied with their $105,000 average salary, while Customs workers earning $93,800 had the same level of satisfaction.
The Ministry of Social Development (32% satisfied, $93,400 average), Department of Corrections (29%, $89,100), and Inland Revenue (34%, $94,200) all sat well below the public service average for pay satisfaction.
Education sector agencies were particularly unhappy, with the Education Review Office recording the second-lowest satisfaction at just 26% - despite an average salary of $114,500. The Ministry of Education wasn't far ahead at 38% satisfied.
The most free and frank - Crown Law
The public service prides itself on its ability to be “free and frank” with ministers - giving them advice they may not want to hear.
Those who are involved with preparing ministers were asked how confident they were that their organisation was “free and frank”.
Overall 71% of these workers were confident their organisation was.
The most confident workforce was at Crown Law, an agency that advises ministers on the legality of their decision-making, and represents the Government where needed in court.
Legal advice is generally privileged and not able to be released under the Official Information Act, perhaps giving these lawyers a greater ability to be frank with ministers.
Crown Law was followed by the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the Serious Fraud Office, and the NZ Security and Intelligence Service - where more than 90% of staff involved in advising ministers were confident of free and frankness.
These top agencies were not ones that generally gave the Government huge amount of advice on new policy development.
These agencies were more likely to be in the bottom of the heap - with the giant Ministry of Education seeing just 62% of advice-giving staff confident that their organisation was free and frank.
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*CORRECTION: The average salary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was reported incorrectly in an earlier version of this story. It is $128,600.(Amended Thursday May 15, 2026. 7.55am)