Federal pay 50% better than private
By Jason Method
Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
Sometimes the easiest way to find a high-paying job is to ask a wealthy relative to hire you.
For many, that relative is Uncle Sam.
Federal workers, on average, are paid almost 50 percent more than employees in the private sector, an Asbury Park Press analysis of salary data shows.
The average federal worker made $59,864 in 2005, compared with the average salary of $40,505 in the private sector, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And that pay gap appears to have widened in the first nine months of 2006, preliminary data show.
The gap may be driven by increased competition in the private sector, where globalization and technological advances have held salaries down.
Meanwhile, the federal workforce has no harsh business realities to face, said James Sherk, a labor policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.
"The government doesn't have to worry about going bankrupt, and there isn't much competition," Sherk said.
Nationwide, there are 2.7 million federal civilian workers, compared with 113.8 million private-sector workers. The federal salary budget for civilians was $164 billion in 2005.
The Asbury Park Press analysis used salary information from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the more than 3,000 counties across the United States.
The analysis showed that:
For example, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, who is in charge of all federal law enforcement in the state, earned $145,500 last year. A top job in a law firm pays several times that salary.
Some workers have successfully converted their government experience into a more lucrative, private-sector venture.
Michael Beson, 41, of Neptune, N.J., a former aide to Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., now runs a job-openings newsletter.
"No matter where you work in the government ... you help people out," Beson said. "But you can definitely make more money in the private world. People in the federal government, I think, are making sacrifices."
Harvard University labor economist John Donahue said that's not true for most workers. He said studies show federal pay and benefits are 3 percent to 15 percent higher than comparable positions in the private sector.
"We have two parallel economies — one is hyper-capitalism, and one is from the Eisenhower administration," Donahue said. "Government pays everybody the same, no matter their level of productivity. But the private sector pays people differently."
In the private sector, high pay is often limited to upper management, where salaries are much higher than for government work, Donahue said. That dissuades some talented professionals from working in public service, he said.
Experts say federal workers earn more on average than private-sector workers because they typically have more education and often are unionized.
Federal employees who start out making more than they would in the private sector also tend to stay in their jobs longer, which further widens the salary gap. Other reasons for their longevity: good health benefits and job security.
Donahue said federal jobs have become the preferred career choice for many workers as manufacturing and other jobs disappear.
"You have a lot of people sheltering in government from an inhospitable private economy," Donahue said.
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