Research Areas

State and Local Government Employees and Pay, by Function

State and local governments offer a wide variety of services, ranging from police protection and public education to state-run liquor stores and waste management services. These many government functions employ millions of full-time and part-time workers. As one example, of the 16.5 million full-time equivalent jobs in state and local governments in 2007, almost 54% were in elementary, secondary and higher education.

The data in this section, taken from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 Census of Government Employment, provide information on many of these specific government functions, including average wages for employees working in the different government functions and the number of government employees per 10,000 state residents.

Articles from the Tax Foundation