Public Administration

About

The top three occupations in the Public Administration Industry Sector are police officers, other managers, and correctional officers and jailers. On average, full-time employees in the Public Administration Industry Sector work 43 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $84,436. Part-time employees in the same industry work 19.8 hours and earn an average annual salary of $28,838.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Public Administration Industry Sector are District of Columbia (Northeast) PUMA, DC, Central St. Mary's County--Lexington Park City & Leonardtown PUMA, MD, and Charles County--La Plata Town & Waldorf City PUMA, MD.

The workforce of Public Administration Industry Sector in 2024 was 7,695,041 people, with 45.6% woman, and 54.4% men.

In 2024, 62.4% of the workforce in the Public Administration Industry Sector was White (4,801,268 people), of which 42% were women and 58% men.

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Employment & Salaries

A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Public Administration Industry Sector.

The workforce in Public Administration Industry Sector was 7,695,041 people and is concentrated in California (885,818 workers). The average annual salary was $80,459, being $10,581 more than the national average salary, which was $69,878.

Monthly Employment

Start Year

Y-Axis

1.86%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 5.53M people employed in the State Government industry. This represents a 1.86% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

This chart shows monthly employment numbers for State Government over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

Employment by Location

The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2024 were California (886k), Texas (591k), and New York (453k).

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Public Administration Industry Sector.

Yearly Wage Ranking

In 2024, Public Administration Industry Sector had an average annual wage of $80,459, $10,581 more than the average national salary of $69,878.

The graph shows the position of Public Administration Industry Sector in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

Wage Distribution

0.335

WAGE GINI

Public Administration has a wage GINI of 0.335, which is less than than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Public Administration (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Public Administration Industry Sector workers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Occupations

A review of jobs and wages in the Public Administration Industry Sector.

Police officers are the most common position with 786,355 workers, but the Public Administration Industry Sector employs a relatively high number of Other managers and Correctional officers and jailers.

The highest average salary in Public Administration goes to Surgeons.

Occupations Distribution

The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Public Administration Industry Sector according to occupations. In 2024, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were police officers (786,355 people), other managers (500,763 people), and correctional officers and jailers (345,006 people)

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$88,841

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$685

$70,478

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$659

On average, Male workers in the Public Administration Industry Sector make 1.26 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Public Administration Industry Sector.

Business

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Public Administration Industry Sector. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries.

The industrial flow illustrates the intermediate inputs and the use of outputs of the Public Administration Industry Sector.

The Public Administration Industry Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Manufacturing Industry.

Industrial Flow

Manufacturing has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Public Administration Industry Sector, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Public Administration Industry Sector is Wholesale trade.

In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

Intermediate Inputs

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

Manufacturing
Professional and business services
Information

The Public Administration Industry Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Manufacturing Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

Use of Output by Other Industries

LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY

The Wholesale trade Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Public Administration Industry Sector in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Public Administration Industry Sector for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

Median Earnings

States with the highest median earnings in 2024

District of Columbia
$121,546
Maryland
$108,437
Virginia
$100,842

The charts shows the median earnings of the Public Administration industry by state and the annual evolution of the median earnings of the industry compared to the national level.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Public Administration Industry Sector in the US.

Of the total workforce, 45.6% corresponds to women and 54.4% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $88,841 and $70,478.

71.3% of workers have a bachelors degree, some college or graduate degree.

Gender and Age

3,512,774

Women

45.6%

4,182,267

Men

54.4%

The workforce of Public Administration industry in 2024 was 7,695,041 people, with 45.6% woman, and 54.4% men.

The visualization shows the distribution of the workforce by gender and age in Public Administration industry.

Races

In 2024, 62.4% of the workforce in the Public Administration industry was White (4,801,268 people), of which 42% were women and 58% men.

Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black and Two or More Races.

Educational Levels

The main educational levels achieved by the Public Administration workers in 2024 were bachelors degree (2,340,151 people), some college (1,626,117 people), and graduate degree (1,518,222 people).

The chart shows the Public Administration workforce by gender and educational level.

Professional, Scientific & Management, and Administrative & Waste Management Services

Industry Sector

Public Administration

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