You may have read the title and thought…duh…everyone know that.  But to be honest, I think people forget it sometimes, especially in an fast-paced place like Northern Virginia.  What made me think about it was that I was listening to NPR a few weeks back and heard a story about the compensation of the CEO of Metro.  He earns a salary of $366,000 a year, which is more than members of Congress, and MUCH more than every single cabinet level position in government including the Secretary of Defense.

In what universe should the Secretary of Defense make $150,000 less than the CEO of a transit organization?

The lowest paid occupations on the list below are firefighters and school teachers.  So, let me ask you this…how important is it that your child receives a good education?  How important is it that someone will come rescue you if your house catches on fire?

If salary were true indicators of importance in this world, then your answers to both of these questions would be “not as important as checking Facebook and Twitter.”

$24,000,000 – Twitter CEO

$16,147,148 – Facebook COO

$13,965,677 – IBM CEO

$1,919,805 – SRA International CEO

$528,000 – Heart Transplant Surgeon

$400,000 – President of the US

$366,000 – Metro’s Chief Executive

$203,700 – Secretary of Defense

$183,300 – CIA Director

$174,000 – US Senator

$141,715 – NASA Astronaut

$52,000 – School Teacher

$43,000 – Firefighter