Career Paths of City Managers in America's Largest Council‐Manager Cities

Abstract

What are the typical career paths of city managers serving in the nation's largest cities? This article examines the career paths of 113 city managers in council‐manager cities with populations over 100,000. The authors identify four distinct career paths for city managers—long servers, lateral movers, ladder climbers, and‐single city careerists—and find that city managers in the largest council‐manager cities are commonly ladder climbers or single‐city careerists. This research shows the stereotypical description of the ladder climber as the only career path is incomplete. Many large cities are providing opportunities for career development, making it unnecessary for city councils to select outsiders to fill top positions. While other research has shown that nearly four‐fifths of city managers are hired from outside, only 54 percent of the city managers in the largest cities were outsiders at the time they were hired.