States With Most Government Employees: Totals and Per Capita Rates

Nationally, state and local governments employed about 7.4 million full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in 2014. That's approximately 232 public employees for every 10,000 Americans, according to Governing calculations of Census survey data. Including teachers and those working in education, the total more than doubles to about 16.2 million public employees (excluding federal government) nationwide.

Across states, government employment statistics vary greatly. Unique circumstances tend to account for high or very low concentrations of public employment. Wyoming, for example, employs the most public employees per capita largely due to the public hospitals that it operates. It's followed by Alaska, which has far more natural resources and highways workers than other states.

The following table lists numbers of state and local full-time equivalent (FTE) employees per 10,000 residents. Education employment accounts for roughly half the workforce, so it’s excluded from these calculations. How responsibilities are divided between states and their localities varies considerably, so combined state and local government employment provides for a more comprehensive measure than totals for only state government.

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 Employment by Job Classification

Select a state to view per capita numbers of government workers and public payroll spending given a state's total personal income for each government function. National 50-state averages are shown for comparison.

Data notes:

• Data are not intended to measure government efficiency or quality of public services.
• Read an explanation of factors behind variations in public employment.
• 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.