States Where Government Workers Are Most Prevalent

In Alaska and Wyoming, there are more than twice as many state and local government workers per capita compared to states like Michigan or Nevada. Similar discrepancies exist in public employee payroll costs. New Hampshire and South Dakota, for example, spend far less (given their residents' incomes) than most other places.

The U.S. Census Bureau tallies numbers of government workers as part of its Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll. The most recent data covering 2014 depicts wide variation in the prevalence of public employment across the country, driven by numerous factors in individual states.

We’ve crunched the numbers to approximate the size of both state and local public employment in each state relative to other jurisdictions. Several different measures can be used to assess public employment, and they’re all subject to various limitations and are not indicative of government efficiency.

States With the Most Public Employees Per Capita

The most basic measure of public employment is the total number of workers per capita. 

Wyoming’s state and local governments employ approximately 446 public workers, excluding education, for every 10,000 residents -- the highest rate nationally. The state is unique in that it operates an unusually high number of public hospitals, including the vast majority of acute care facilities. Wyoming governments also employ the most corrections employees of any state and the second highest number of highway workers.

Not too far behind is Alaska, with 392 noneducation public employees for every 10,000 residents. It’s no surprise that with its vast network of roads, the state has more highway employees per capita than any other state. Census data further suggests that it’s the top state for public financial administration and natural resources employment. But given that Alaska relies heavily on oil tax revenues -- which have taken a hit because of low oil prices -- it’s possible that public employment in the state could start to shrink a bit.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are Arizona, Michigan and Nevada, where there are roughly half as many state and local employees per capita. Michigan’s employee counts remain low across the board, particularly for highways and law enforcement.

While the prevalence of public employees doesn’t necessarily correspond with political ideology, states with higher numbers tend to be more conservative. Eight of the top 10 states with the most public employees per capita voted Republican in the last presidential election. 

The following table lists state and local full-time equivalent (FTE) employees per 10,000 residents. Since education employment is so large -- roughly half the workforce -- it’s excluded from these calculations and is presented separately below. Note that there's a much larger variation in the figures covering only state government employment. How responsibilities are divided between states and their localities varies considerably, so combined state and local government employment provides for a more comprehensive measure. 

State	State/Local FTE Employment	State/Local FTEs Per 10K Pop.	State Gov. FTE Employment	State FTEs Per 10K Pop.
Indiana	131,762	200	30,223	46
Illinois	264,211	205	63,199	49
Ohio	262,318	226	63,627	55
Florida	424,961	213	111,102	56
Wisconsin	114,565	199	33,321	58
California	883,408	228	235,973	61
Nevada	53,690	189	17,733	62
Arizona	128,803	191	42,076	63
Colorado	129,933	243	33,785	63
Texas	562,650	209	176,444	65
Tennessee	154,624	236	42,860	65
Michigan	182,391	184	67,024	68
Georgia	217,872	216	68,463	68
Minnesota	121,740	223	41,586	76
Pennsylvania	257,459	201	98,791	77
North Carolina	258,933	260	79,085	80
Virginia	188,522	226	68,072	82
Iowa	73,089	235	25,907	83
New Hampshire	27,843	210	11,402	86
Idaho	37,040	227	14,195	87
Washington	183,248	259	64,039	91
Alabama	138,758	286	44,045	91
New York	623,162	316	179,785	91
South Carolina	123,451	256	44,381	92
Missouri	145,324	240	55,890	92
Massachusetts	139,429	206	63,417	94
Oklahoma	89,707	231	36,454	94
Kansas	79,087	272	27,301	94
Utah	63,422	215	27,985	95
Maryland	133,946	224	56,906	95
Louisiana	132,113	284	45,288	97
South Dakota	19,318	226	8,552	100
Kentucky	97,173	220	44,292	100
New Jersey	205,211	230	89,732	100
Maine	28,649	215	13,424	101
Nebraska	54,527	290	19,067	101
Oregon	95,290	240	42,360	107
Connecticut	75,782	211	41,355	115
Rhode Island	21,981	208	12,379	117
Arkansas	71,048	239	35,172	119
Mississippi	91,036	304	35,782	120
Montana	26,872	263	12,817	125
New Mexico	55,987	268	26,646	128
North Dakota	20,404	276	9,936	134
West Virginia	44,645	241	24,917	135
Vermont	14,680	234	9,132	146
Hawaii	37,583	265	21,072	148
Wyoming	26,073	446	9,340	160
Delaware	23,721	253	17,806	190
Alaska	28,858	392	18,057	245

Figures represent aggregate totals for noneducation public employees. See note below.
SOURCE: Governing calculations of U.S. Census Bureau 2014 Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll data

Public Employee Payroll Costs

The Census Bureau also published public employee payroll costs for the month of March 2014. For this measure, we’ve calculated state and local government payroll costs relative to each state’s total personal income, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Again, Alaska and Wyoming spend the most nationally on public payroll costs given their personal incomes, followed by New York and California. 

As one would expect, states with greater payroll costs generally have more public workers, but this isn’t always the case. California’s per capita public employment rate, for instance, is slightly lower than the national average, but its payroll costs given personal incomes are the fourth highest. North Dakota’s state and local governments, meanwhile, employ the eighth highest number of public employees per capita, while their payroll spending rate ranks near the bottom. 

Regional differences in costs of living play a role here, as does the composition of the workforce since some types of employees will command far higher salaries than others.

The wide variation in public payroll expenses is also largely a function of available revenues. States that don’t collect much tax revenue simply can’t afford to pay for more employees. Consider New Hampshire, with the lowest aggregate public employee payroll costs given its total personal income. The state lacks both a broad-based income and sales tax. South Dakota’s governments, which spend the second-lowest amount, similarly don’t impose an individual income tax.

Interestingly, public payroll given states’ personal income doesn’t correlate with per capita incomes. Connecticut, the wealthiest state, spends significantly less on public payrolls than other states and localities. No correlation similarly exists between per capita incomes and public employment per capita.

This table shows states’ aggregate March 2014 payroll costs, excluding education, per $100,000 of annual personal income. Figures do not include benefits.

State	State/Local Gov. Monthly Payroll	Annual Personal Income	Monthly Payroll Per $100K Personal Income
Wyoming	$115,650,749	$31,885,231,000	$363
Alaska	$165,952,808	$39,792,685,000	$417
New York	$3,674,256,030	$1,098,102,853,000	$335
Mississippi	$304,663,786	$103,090,592,000	$296
Nebraska	$234,199,369	$89,478,670,000	$262
Alabama	$507,946,482	$181,908,767,000	$279
Louisiana	$502,288,103	$195,426,167,000	$257
North Dakota	$83,515,413	$41,264,895,000	$202
Kansas	$313,310,729	$130,364,095,000	$240
New Mexico	$225,054,616	$77,356,150,000	$291
Hawaii	$177,273,318	$65,347,949,000	$271
Montana	$106,331,590	$40,843,525,000	$260
North Carolina	$1,075,996,703	$389,512,571,000	$276
Washington	$1,044,208,466	$350,321,729,000	$298
South Carolina	$457,344,066	$177,242,275,000	$258
Delaware	$99,332,928	$43,391,982,000	$229
Colorado	$641,167,564	$261,735,447,000	$245
West Virginia	$137,165,251	$66,856,850,000	$205
Oregon	$481,219,062	$163,652,836,000	$294
Missouri	$513,518,555	$252,482,438,000	$203
Arkansas	$237,090,347	$112,076,107,000	$212
Tennessee	$583,414,506	$264,965,180,000	$220
Iowa	$339,105,068	$139,624,515,000	$243
Vermont	$66,573,031	$29,090,044,000	$229
Oklahoma	$340,177,191	$169,227,826,000	$201
New Jersey	$1,157,715,755	$515,020,298,000	$225
California	$5,861,262,093	$1,939,527,656,000	$302
Idaho	$154,951,483	$60,040,758,000	$258
South Dakota	$71,502,474	$38,631,202,000	$185
Virginia	$813,626,390	$419,184,911,000	$194
Ohio	$1,139,772,407	$489,694,974,000	$233
Maryland	$658,379,987	$323,778,035,000	$203
Minnesota	$598,692,292	$267,389,243,000	$224
Kentucky	$349,774,936	$165,044,051,000	$212
Georgia	$745,885,693	$393,593,652,000	$190
Utah	$257,971,133	$110,841,885,000	$233
Maine	$115,136,478	$54,195,046,000	$212
Florida	$1,881,415,633	$850,177,746,000	$221
Connecticut	$452,756,521	$233,293,455,000	$194
New Hampshire	$120,004,168	$70,020,358,000	$171
Texas	$2,374,787,666	$1,231,084,591,000	$193
Rhode Island	$116,665,327	$51,026,876,000	$229
Massachusetts	$760,989,514	$396,205,941,000	$192
Illinois	$1,412,967,476	$613,671,539,000	$230
Pennsylvania	$1,151,798,487	$609,679,210,000	$189
Indiana	$485,617,985	$261,092,396,000	$186
Wisconsin	$513,480,812	$254,404,802,000	$202
Arizona	$602,074,328	$255,092,928,000	$236
Nevada	$297,737,543	$115,671,839,000	$257
Michigan	$841,441,712	$403,726,369,000	$208

Figures represent aggregate totals for noneducation public employees. See note below.
SOURCE: Governing calculations of U.S. Census Bureau 2014 Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll data, BEA 2014 personal income data.

Education

Schools account for, by far, the single largest segment of public employment. 

On a per capita basis, Wyoming (321 employees/10,000 population) and Vermont (317 employees/10,000 population) recorded the highest tallies of elementary-secondary education workers, roughly double other select states. Alternatively, comparing payroll expenses relative to personal incomes suggests Florida, Washington and Arizona spend the least nationally. 

A litany of factors influence elementary-secondary education employment and payroll across states. Demographics, for one, play a role as more children reside in some states. Class sizes and state funding formulas also affect the workforce.

Even larger variation exists across higher education employment and payroll. New Mexico, Kansas and Iowa report higher per capita employment counts and payroll costs for their colleges and universities compared to other states.

State	Elementary-Secondary FTEs per 10K	Elementary-Secondary Monthly Payroll Per $100K Personal Income	Higher Ed FTEs per 10K Pop.	Higher Ed Monthly Payroll Per $100K Personal Income
Alabama	206	$172	86	$106
Alaska	266	$224	77	$75
Arizona	162	$142	69	$88
Arkansas	233	$194	87	$103
California	163	$165	60	$74
Colorado	194	$148	84	$88
Connecticut	259	$201	52	$47
Delaware	182	$178	85	$95
Florida	174	$129	45	$52
Georgia	225	$195	60	$72
Hawaii	185	$162	77	$80
Idaho	197	$155	68	$72
Illinois	217	$206	64	$67
Indiana	197	$173	86	$94
Iowa	249	$202	97	$115
Kansas	296	$208	102	$106
Kentucky	242	$206	84	$105
Louisiana	216	$161	60	$63
Maine	260	$219	55	$58
Maryland	210	$199	67	$65
Massachusetts	232	$188	48	$43
Michigan	168	$171	89	$117
Minnesota	221	$188	67	$76
Mississippi	244	$200	89	$109
Missouri	219	$173	61	$64
Montana	213	$190	79	$78
Nebraska	253	$191	84	$72
Nevada	164	$163	33	$44
New Hampshire	272	$192	53	$52
New Jersey	248	$245	51	$54
New Mexico	226	$195	105	$132
New York	232	$219	42	$41
North Carolina	205	$167	84	$100
North Dakota	224	$149	115	$95
Ohio	206	$190	65	$73
Oklahoma	245	$160	74	$74
Oregon	156	$154	81	$99
Pennsylvania	187	$175	53	$62
Rhode Island	190	$205	51	$53
South Carolina	204	$187	65	$83
South Dakota	228	$158	73	$68
Tennessee	203	$163	53	$56
Texas	257	$196	65	$74
Utah	173	$160	82	$112
Vermont	317	$255	78	$93
Virginia	238	$180	70	$71
Washington	145	$139	76	$80
West Virginia	236	$224	76	$96
Wisconsin	200	$183	84	$96
Wyoming	321	$229	102	$78

SOURCE: Governing calculations of U.S. Census Bureau 2014 Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll data, BEA 2014 personal income data.
(The Census Bureau also publishes a separate set of more comprehensive data covering all types of public education spending.)

Factors Behind Variations in Public Employment

So what explains the wide variation in public employment and payroll costs? 

To start, it’s worth noting that some governments simply have more revenues than others to fund public employment.

“The initial decisions that may have been made decades ago about tax structures and the levels of support people are willing to provide government have a major impact on spending today,” said Barry Van Lare, a public policy and management consultant who worked for the National Governors Association. “In very few instances do you see states and localities that reduce expenditures and attempt to restrain spending when their tax base is providing enough resources.”

In addition, federal aid and reimbursement support some programs that states and localities administer -- a factor not reflected in payroll costs given state personal incomes.

How public services are delivered also influences the extent to which governments employ public workers. Privatization of public services obviously affects employment numbers. Health care and corrections are two areas where contracting out is most common, and thus factors in how many health care and corrections officers are employed in different states. Consider hospital employment: In six states, there are fewer than 10 hospital public employees for every 10,000 residents. But in Mississippi and Wyoming, the rate exceeds 100 employees.

Of course, states’ policy priorities also can push numbers of public employees up or down. States with laws resulting in higher incarceration rates, for instance, increase the need for corrections staff. Demographics further play a role as residents in different age groups and income levels may require more public services than others.

Numbers of individual units of government, which vary greatly across states, influence public employment as well. More special districts and local governments within a region will drive up costs, said Van Lare.

Overall, the data provides for a broad overview of the size of public employment in each state. This doesn't mean, however, that it's a reliable gauge of government efficiency given all the different factors and conditions within states. In assessing efficiency, Van Lare said it's more meaningful to compare a narrow set of data across common government functions in individual jurisdictions. 

Pubic Employment and Payroll Data

Data notes:

• Figures do not reflect federal employees or contract workers. The Census survey data also excludes unpaid public officials, volunteers and those who work on a fee basis.
• Definitions describing job classification types shown are available in the Census Bureau’s classification manual, beginning on page 373.
• Payroll amounts, which cover only the month of March 2014, reflect salaries, wages, fees, commissions and overtime before withholdings. They do not include health insurance, retirement and other benefits.