# Government payroll employment

Number of jobs on government payrolls in the month, seasonally adjusted, from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The supersector covers federal, state and local government, including public schools, public hospitals and the Postal Service; active-duty military personnel are excluded.

## Key facts

- Government payroll employment in the United States was 23,327,000 jobs in September 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- California had the highest government payroll employment of 51 states in August 2026, at 2,673,200 jobs, and Vermont the lowest, at 56,300 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Published for 52 places, with figures from January 1939 to September 2026.
- Figures last updated on 2026-10-12.

- Indicator id: `payroll_employment_government`
- Unit: jobs
- Note: One of the eleven CES supersectors that make up nonfarm_payroll_employment. Counts jobs on nonfarm payrolls, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice. It covers full-time and part-time employees paid for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th of the month, and excludes the self-employed, farm workers, private household workers and unpaid family workers.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/en/government-jobs
- API: https://invokely.ai/api/v1/indicators/payroll_employment_government

## Latest figures

| Place | Period | jobs | Source |
|---|---|---:|---|
| United States | 2026-09 | 23,327,000 | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics: all employees, government, seasonally adjusted (CES9000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/ce/ce.data.90a.Government.Employment. Retrieved 2026-10-12. |

## Rankings

- [US states](https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-jobs/us-states.md) (51 places)