What Is First Female New York Governor Kathy Hochul's Net Worth?

New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo is resigning following sexual harassment allegations from 11 different women. Cuomo's decision to remove himself from office marks a political shift less than a year after former U.S. President Trump's term ended. President Trump had 26 sexual misconduct allegations of his own. Now, New York's first female governor Democrat Hochul prepares to take the helm of the most populous East coast state.

How much is the newly appointed governor of N.Y. state worth? How much will her salary (and with it, taxes) increase as she inhabits her one-year governor term?

When a governor resigns, the shuffle takes some time to complete. Cuomo still has some time left to wrap up loose ends before Hochul takes over in 13 days on Aug. 24.

Years ago, Hochul worked in Congress and then switched over to the private sector as a government relations specialist with M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y.

Hochul has been the state's lieutenant governor since Cuomo paired up with her in 2014. Cuomo won that year's gubernatorial election with Hochul as his running mate, and was subsequently reelected in 2018.

It isn't clear whether Hochul will run for governor in an actual election moving forward. For now, she has about a year-long term in her freshly appointed position. As Cuomo loses face, Hochul is earning her spot in history.

In 2020, Hochul earned an annual salary of $209,903 as lieutenant governor. The data is publicly available on SeeThroughNY, a platform sharing the payroll data of public officials in the state.

Meanwhile, Hochul has been taking home her lieutenant governor salary since stepping into the role in 2015. The 2020 salary might be a bit higher than the starting salary in 2015, but it's likely in the same range.

In 2020, Cuomo earned $223,807 as governor of New York state. Meanwhile, Cuomo's top aide Melissa DeRosa took home about $200,000.

Based on the payroll data, Hochul wasn't that far behind Cuomo anyway. She will likely take over his pay rate for the year-long term ahead of her.

Hochul could get boosted to the next tax bracket as one of the cutoffs is $215,400. New York is already on a progressive tax schedule, which means that workers earning higher wages have to pay more. However, New York City isn't—anyone earning at least $50,001 a year pays the same.

Hochul has a lot of assets invested in commercial banks, which makes sense given her career history involving M&T Bank. As a result, her overall net worth likely fluctuates.

Reports estimate Hochul's overall net worth to be as low as $1.6 million or as high as $3.2 million. The firm answer isn't known as Hochul progresses to a new, historical role.