As of November 2024, the federal government employed just over 3 million people. The number of federal employees has topped 3 million since September 2024. The last time the government could claim that many employees was in September 1994.
Federal employment numbers peaked at 3.4 million in 1990 and the most recent low was in 2014, with 2.7 million.
Federal government employees work at departments or agencies housed under one of the three branches of government — executive, legislative, or judicial, though most federal agencies are under the federal executive branch. Across all US industries, it’s the 15th-largest workforce overall.
How has the federal workforce changed over time?
Between 1929 and 1945, the United States was grappling with the Great Depression and World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the New Deal in 1933, and over the next five years established numerous new federal agencies – agencies requiring people to staff them. Some agencies created during this period are still around, like the Social Security Administration and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
When data tracking began in 1939, the federal workforce was less than one million. It tripled in size over the next five years.
By early 1948, employment had scaled back again by nearly 40%, to 1.88 million.
Federal employment continued to grow throughout the 20th century, topping out with 3.4 million employees in 1990, then contracting to 2.8 million in 1999. During the 2000s, it remained relatively flat.
Spikes in employment are due to the once-a-decade census, when the government hires temporary workers to conduct the survey; during the 2020 census the number of federal employees increased from 2.9 million in January to 3.2 million in August. By December 2020, the count returned to 2.9 million.
Between January and November of 2024, the number of federal employees grew by about 27,000 people.
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Where do federal employees work?
At the end of 2023 the government employed 3.0 million people, or 1.7% of the entire US workforce.
Around 2.3 million of them were full-time employees.
Federal offices with the most personnel in 2023 were all military programs under the Defense Department (775,100 people), the Department of Veterans Affairs (433,700), and the Department of Homeland Security (212,000).
The Federal Trade Commission, National Credit Union Administration, National Labor Relations Board, and Civil Defense Programs had the fewest employees, about 1,000 each.
Which states have the most federal workers?
Most federal employees are in California (147,487), Virginia (144,483), and Maryland (142,876). Federal employees represent 0.8%, 3.3%, and 4.6% of these states’ total workforces.
High federal employment numbers in Virginia and Maryland are due to their proximity to Washington, DC. In Virginia, the Navy (31.4%), Department of Defense (19.5%), and Army (10.5%) employed the most people. In Maryland, Department of Health and Human Services (28.1%), the Navy (12.0%), and the Army (10.6%) led the way.
As of March 2024, 26.4% of California federal employees worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs and 23.5% worked for the Navy. The remaining 50.1% worked for other agencies.
Washington, DC, has the highest number of federal employees (162,144) representing 43.3% of the District’s workforce.
How do federal employment numbers compare to other industries?
The size of the federal workforce is comparable to the information industry (publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications), which employs just over 3 million people. Size-wise, the next-closest industry is education services (schools, colleges, universities, and training centers), with approximately 3.8 million workers.
The federal workforce is relatively small compared to the nation’s largest workforce: professional and business services which includes scientific and technical services (including legal, accounting, advertising, and consulting), corporate management, administrative and support services, and waste management, employs 22.8 million people.
Healthcare and social assistance is the country’s second-largest employer (21.5 million people), and state and local government employment is third (19.9 million).
The federal workforce is larger than the utilities (575,500 people); mining (595,300); and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries (1.46 million).
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Page sources and methodology
All of the data on the page was sourced directly from government agencies. The analysis and final review was performed by USAFacts.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics survey (National)
White House
Strengthening the Federal Workforce
