Federal Employee Salaries By State

Salaries for federal employees vary significantly not only by the types of positions they hold, but also where they reside.

Nationally, about half of full-time, civilian employees earn salaries of $80,000 or greater. Their average salary was about $86,300, according to June 2018 Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data.

Compared to private sector employees, federal workers have typically attained higher levels of education, with just over half of workers holding at least bachelor’s degrees. Additionally, the average length of service across all cabinet-level agencies was 13.2 years.

The federal government’s general schedule outlines separate pay grades for each locality to account for cost of living. While the majority of federal employees earn at least moderate salaries, large numbers of lower-wage workers are found in many states. In 11 states, about a quarter of the federal workforce earns less than $50,000.

Select a state to view its numbers of full-time nonseasonal federal employees, by pay range: 

About the data

Office of Personnel Management data, current as of June 2018, reflect full-time, nonseasonal civilian employees with permanent work status. About 222,000 mostly part-time workers were excluded, as well as about 263,000 employees with salaries not reported. State and national totals don’t include active duty military, the Postal Service and select small agencies not recorded in the OPM data. Numbers refer to workers stationed in each state, not how many necessarily reside there, and strictly represent salaries, not total compensation.