The Average Salary of Government Employees

A common stereotype holds that government employees are woefully underpaid and so struggle mightily to make ends meet. It’s enough to make anyone think twice about government service, but the good news is the stereotype isn't true. If you were (or still are) considering a career in civil service, the average salary of government employees might surprise you. And some of the top salaries – for jobs that would inspire even the most thrill-seeking job-seeker – are quite attractive.

Government Pay Scales Tip the Balance

Before your heart starts thumping in anticipation and you start scouring online job posts, remember that there can be a big difference between municipal government and federal government jobs. It’s important to draw a distinction between the villages, towns and cities throughout America that employ everyone from public works crews to police and firefighters and the approximate 2 million people who are spread among dozens of federal government agencies. All of these people are “government” employees, so if you get confused about which type of government employee they are, find out who pays their salary. The payer is the employer.

ZipRecruiter apparently defines “government employee” as a “municipal employee”: It says the average annual salary of government employees in the United States is ​$63,659​ (with a range that goes from ​$16,500​ to ​$143,000​). The biggest tipoff that this analysis excludes federal workers is the nation’s top job, which pays well above ​$143,000​ a year. It’s the president of the United States, who makes ​$400,000​ a year.

Federal Employee Pay Scale Holds Surprises

But even the president isn’t the highest-paid federal employee; this distinction belongs to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who makes nearly ​$418,000​ a year as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. By way of comparison, most judges on the U.S. Supreme Court make ​$268,300​ a year, and Smart Asset says that most U.S. senators and representatives make ​$174,000​ a year.

Ironically, some of the best-paying federal government jobs pay between the low ​$140,000s​ and about ​$180,000​ a year – closer to the top salaries made by municipal workers. Moneywise’s list of the 10 best-paying jobs is gleaned from Federalpay.org, which tracks federal employee pay scales. The jobs and their average annual pay is as follows:

  • Securities compliance examiner, ​$181,013
  • Patent attorney, ​$170,079
  • Nurse anesthetist, ​$167,818
  • Administrative law judge, ​$163,113
  • Patent administrator, ​$161,308
  • Technical systems program manager, ​$153,430
  • General mathematician/statistician, ​$153,214
  • Chief engineer, ​$150,803
  • Astronomy and space scientist, ​$141,981
  • Program manager, ​$141,595

Check out The Highest-Paying Government Agencies

There's more than one way to shatter a stereotype and find six-figure government jobs. Financial Samurai says these five federal agencies stand out for the average salary they pay, which are rounded up to the nearest thousand here:

  • Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, ​$172,000
  • Securities and Exchange Commission, ​$163,000
  • Federal Housing Finance Agency, ​$155,000
  • Commodity Futures Trading Commission, ​$152,000
  • Artic Research Commission, ​$150,000

There’s a lot to be said for finding a government job that not only pays well, but that also has a good reputation among the people who already work there. For this, you may find direction in a Best Places to Work ranking of federal agencies. Employees were asked:

  • If they could recommend their agency as a good place to work
  • How satisfied they are with their job
  • How satisfied they are with the agency

These five agencies came out on top:

Note the websites, which you can use as a portal to a government job that takes the government worker stereotype and turns it inside out and upside down – on your terms.