Federal pay ahead of private industry
Accountants, nurses, chemists, surveyors, cooks, clerks and janitors are among the wide range of jobs that get paid more on average in the federal government than in the private sector.
Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008, the most recent data available.
These salary figures do not include the value of health, pension and other benefits, which averaged $40,785 per federal employee in 2008 vs. $9,882 per private worker, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Make sure you check out this article and find the link for specific salaries.
While this study is done at the federal level, state comparisons are even worse. The next time your state government asks for higher taxes, you simply need to make these exact same comparisons. Look up the average compensation (salary and benefits) of your average government worker and compare to the private sector. You also might ask what you’re getting for all this money? While I don’t like the politicians lacking backbone to identify specific programs and budget cuts, the tax increase people are even worse. This is going to be an interesting season as states start preparing their budgets. Once people realize exactly what they get for their existing money, the outrage will be that much greater when they have the gall to ask for even more.