It’s a troublesome job that comes with important powers, even in a small French village, however do French mayors and their deputies receives a commission?
France is about to carry native elections — often known as les municipales — in March 2026, and a change within the guidelines implies that many smaller villages and communes are frantically looking for feminine candidates.
The municipales elect native councillors and mayors, starting from big-city mayors just like the mayor of Paris who controls a €10 billion annual funds by means of to village mayors.
Representatives of native mayors are anxious that they won’t be able to assemble sufficient candidates to create an inventory. And no marvel. A Senate report confirmed that greater than 1,000 mayors elected in 2020 – out of some 35,000 – had resigned part-way by means of their mandate.
In small villages mayors typically run unopposed because of a scarcity of individuals keen to tackle the job, which is each time-consuming and — formally — unpaid.
READ ALSO French villages search feminine mayor candidates for 2026 elections
So, how can this apparently thankless job be thought-about worthwhile?
The truth is: unpaid doesn’t imply unremunerated.
Mayors are entitled to a municipal allowance, often known as une indemnité de fonction, which is regulated by the Code of the Général des Collectivités Territoriales (CGCT) and calculated based mostly on the inhabitants of the village, city, or metropolis for which they’ve been elected.
In 2024, the mayor of a municipality with 100,000 inhabitants acquired an allowance of €5,960.26 per 30 days earlier than taxes and social fees.
This shouldn’t be a wage, as a lot as a stipend meant to offset bills incurred by elected representatives as a part of their elected function, and any lack of earnings on account of their unpaid work as mayors.
Mayors and deputy mayors in smaller cities obtain allowances on a sliding scale.
The cash comes from the native authority funds and officers could also be paid much less. However, the rule is that these allowances are set on the most degree.
Maximum allowances per place are as follows.
| Population | Maximum mayoral allowance (gross) |
Max deputy mayor allowance (gross) |
| Less than 500 | €1,048.18 | €406.94 |
| 500 to 999 | €1,656.54 | €439.83 |
| 1,000 to three,499 | €2,121.03 | €813.88 |
| 3,500 to 9,999 | €2,260.79 | €904.32 |
| 10,000 to 19,999 | €2,671.84 | €1,130.39 |
| 20,000 to 49,999 | €3,699.47 | €1,356.47 |
| 50,000 to 99,999 | €4,521.58 | €1,808.63 |
| 100,000-plus | €5,960.26 | €2,712.95 |
Mayors of huge metropolitan areas handle substantial budgets, giant groups, and numerous ability units, justifying greater salaries. Elected officers can partially or totally waive their allowance, however the native authority should all the time bear the associated fee if the elected official accepts the fee.
They might also maintain a number of roles on native, departmental and regional councils, for which there could also be separate allowances. In such circumstances, mixed allowances are capped at a most of €9,015 gross per 30 days, stopping mayors and councillors gaining access to ‘limitless’ allowances funds.
In municipalities with 1,000 inhabitants or extra, the council can, on the mayor’s request, vote for an quantity decrease than the authorized restrict. This permits elected officers to partially or utterly waive their allowance, a follow noticed in some native authorities.
Obviously, mayors don’t obtain the quantities listed right here, as they must pay social safety and their taxes on these funds as they do any salaries or different earnings they could obtain.
However, they’re eligible for a selected tax allowance of €1,592.80 per 30 days for municipalities with fewer than 3,500 inhabitants, and €698.80 for these with a bigger inhabitants, which reduces their tax liabilities.
