Governor Paterson has been paying his aides more money than do governors in other states and paying some of them more than many New York state lawmakers or judges make.

Mr. Paterson’s 28-year-old director of communications, Risa Heller, makes more money than New York’s 69-year-old chief judge, Judith Kaye. Ms. Heller, a former top press aide to Senator Schumer who joined the administration in the spring, earns $175,000, which is $19,000 more than Chief Judge Kaye, who occupies the state judiciary’s highest office, makes. It is more than the $168,000 the White House press secretary, Tony Snow, earned in 2007.

Of the 176 employees who work in the executive chamber, 62 of them take home an annual salary of at least $100,000, including Mr. Paterson, who earns $179,000, according to state comptroller data.

Judges have threatened a work slowdown to protest their salaries, which have been frozen for the last decade. Frustration among legislators regarding their own pay has boiled over to the point of prompting one lawmaker, Eric Adams, a Democrat who represents Park Slope and Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to bellow “Show me the money” on the Senate floor. But the governor’s office is one place in Albany where complaints about salary are rarely audible.

At the beginning of July, the average salary in the executive chamber was $89,000, about $2,000 higher than it was under the Spitzer administration in March. The positions of legislative assistant, press officer, and assistant appointments officer all command six-figure salaries.

Mr. Paterson’s staff earns significantly more than its counterparts in other statehouses, according to a New York Sun review of the payrolls of the governors’ offices in California, Massachusetts, Florida, and Texas.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s 243 employees earn an average salary of $71,638, according to data provided by the California State Controller’s Office. Even with the bigger staff, Mr. Schwarzenegger’s office has only 46 people who make at least $100,000.

The governor’s office in Massachusetts employs 73 people and has an average salary of $65,800. Eleven of them have salaries of at least $100,000, the highest being Governor Patrick’s at $140,535.

In Florida, which has a population slightly smaller than New York’s, 121 people work in the governor’s office, which pays an average of $56,600. Governor Crist, who makes $132,931, is one of 14 people in his office who make six- figure salaries.

The total payroll in that office is $6.8 million, which is less than half of New York’s payroll of $15.6 million. Massachusetts spends $4.8 million on its governor’s staff salaries.

And in Texas, the average governor’s office salary is $62,000, adding up to a payroll that’s half the size of Mr. Paterson’s office. Twelve people make more than $100,000.

A spokesman for Mr. Paterson’s budget office said the compensation within the governor’s office is appropriate.

“The Executive Chamber has wide-ranging responsibilities, overseeing an enterprise with nearly 200,000 employees and a $121.6 billion budget. Paying competitive salaries is an essential part of attracting top-flight talent, as the Governor’s office seeks to fulfill this important mission,” the spokesman, Matt Anderson, said.

The average salary for all occupations in New York is $47,000, according to state labor department statistics. The average annual income for federal, state, and local legislators in New York is $80,000, according to the state labor department.

State lawmakers, who also haven’t seen a pay raise in about 10 years, collect a base salary of $79,500, although extras from serving on committees can put them at more than $100,000. Mr. Paterson has declined to give lawmakers a pay raise, saying the state couldn’t afford to reward them with more money during a time of economic difficulty.

Mr. Paterson’s employees, on average, earn more than credit analysts, computer system analysts, computer software engineers, mathematicians, landscape architects, agricultural engineers, biochemists, biophysicists, biomedical engineers, high school teachers, and commercial pilots, according to a survey conducted by the labor department between 2003 and 2006.

One of loudest voices in the Legislature calling on Governor Paterson to grant lawmakers and judges a pay raise, a Democratic assemblyman, Carl Heastie, said he didn’t have a problem with salaries in the executive chamber but said they only point to the inequity suffered by others.

“The fault is not with how much the governor’s staff makes. The problem is that Judge Kaye deserves to make more, and also the legislators,” he said.