Data / Rankings / Government payroll employment / US states

US states by government payroll employment

California had the highest government payroll employment of 51 states in July 2026, at 2,663,400 jobs. Vermont had the lowest, at 57,300 jobs. The median was 326,000 jobs and the figure for the United States was 23,300,000 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest2,663,400California
Lowest57,300Vermont
Median326,00051 states
United States23,300,000History

Map of states, July 2026

Alabama: 431,200 jobsAlaska: 77,300 jobsArizona: 426,300 jobsArkansas: 204,800 jobsCalifornia: 2,663,400 jobsColorado: 484,300 jobsConnecticut: 235,200 jobsDelaware: 71,800 jobsDistrict of Columbia: 207,600 jobsFlorida: 1,138,700 jobsGeorgia: 705,800 jobsHawaii: 125,600 jobsIdaho: 128,800 jobsIllinois: 857,300 jobsIndiana: 416,400 jobsIowa: 267,300 jobsKansas: 257,000 jobsKentucky: 315,300 jobsLouisiana: 326,000 jobsMaine: 102,500 jobsMaryland: 527,200 jobsMassachusetts: 474,900 jobsMichigan: 642,500 jobsMinnesota: 437,600 jobsMississippi: 236,000 jobsMissouri: 432,900 jobsMontana: 91,300 jobsNebraska: 177,800 jobsNevada: 184,000 jobsNew Hampshire: 87,500 jobsNew Jersey: 624,000 jobsNew Mexico: 194,000 jobsNew York: 1,532,200 jobsNorth Carolina: 779,500 jobsNorth Dakota: 86,300 jobsOhio: 786,500 jobsOklahoma: 371,900 jobsOregon: 311,700 jobsPennsylvania: 700,100 jobsRhode Island: 64,600 jobsSouth Carolina: 401,100 jobsSouth Dakota: 80,800 jobsTennessee: 457,300 jobsTexas: 2,128,800 jobsUtah: 276,200 jobsVermont: 57,300 jobsVirginia: 757,700 jobsWashington: 607,100 jobsWest Virginia: 147,800 jobsWisconsin: 412,300 jobsWyoming: 71,100 jobs
  • Under 100K
  • 100K to 210K
  • 210K to 330K
  • 330K to 440K
  • 440K to 700K
  • 700K and over
jobs, July 2026. Source: BLS, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001). Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, July 2026

California: 2,663,400 jobsCalifornia2,663,400Texas: 2,128,800 jobsTexas2,128,800New York: 1,532,200 jobsNew York1,532,200Florida: 1,138,700 jobsFlorida1,138,700Illinois: 857,300 jobsIllinois857,300Ohio: 786,500 jobsOhio786,500North Carolina: 779,500 jobsNorth Carolina779,500Virginia: 757,700 jobsVirginia757,700Georgia: 705,800 jobsGeorgia705,800Pennsylvania: 700,100 jobsPennsylvania700,100Michigan: 642,500 jobsMichigan642,500New Jersey: 624,000 jobsNew Jersey624,000Washington: 607,100 jobsWashington607,100Maryland: 527,200 jobsMaryland527,200Colorado: 484,300 jobsColorado484,300Massachusetts: 474,900 jobsMassachusetts474,900Tennessee: 457,300 jobsTennessee457,300Minnesota: 437,600 jobsMinnesota437,600Missouri: 432,900 jobsMissouri432,900Alabama: 431,200 jobsAlabama431,200Arizona: 426,300 jobsArizona426,300Indiana: 416,400 jobsIndiana416,400Wisconsin: 412,300 jobsWisconsin412,300South Carolina: 401,100 jobsSouth Carolina401,100Oklahoma: 371,900 jobsOklahoma371,900Louisiana: 326,000 jobsLouisiana326,000Kentucky: 315,300 jobsKentucky315,300Oregon: 311,700 jobsOregon311,700Utah: 276,200 jobsUtah276,200Iowa: 267,300 jobsIowa267,300Kansas: 257,000 jobsKansas257,000Mississippi: 236,000 jobsMississippi236,000Connecticut: 235,200 jobsConnecticut235,200District of Columbia: 207,600 jobsDistrict of Columbia207,600Arkansas: 204,800 jobsArkansas204,800New Mexico: 194,000 jobsNew Mexico194,000Nevada: 184,000 jobsNevada184,000Nebraska: 177,800 jobsNebraska177,800West Virginia: 147,800 jobsWest Virginia147,800Idaho: 128,800 jobsIdaho128,800Hawaii: 125,600 jobsHawaii125,600Maine: 102,500 jobsMaine102,500Montana: 91,300 jobsMontana91,300New Hampshire: 87,500 jobsNew Hampshire87,500North Dakota: 86,300 jobsNorth Dakota86,300South Dakota: 80,800 jobsSouth Dakota80,800Alaska: 77,300 jobsAlaska77,300Delaware: 71,800 jobsDelaware71,800Wyoming: 71,100 jobsWyoming71,100Rhode Island: 64,600 jobsRhode Island64,600Vermont: 57,300 jobsVermont57,300California: 2,663,400 jobsCalifornia2,663,400Texas: 2,128,800 jobsTexas2,128,800New York: 1,532,200 jobsNew York1,532,200Florida: 1,138,700 jobsFlorida1,138,700Illinois: 857,300 jobsIllinois857,300Ohio: 786,500 jobsOhio786,500North Carolina: 779,500 jobsNorth Carolina779,500Virginia: 757,700 jobsVirginia757,700Georgia: 705,800 jobsGeorgia705,800Pennsylvania: 700,100 jobsPennsylvania700,100Michigan: 642,500 jobsMichigan642,500New Jersey: 624,000 jobsNew Jersey624,000Washington: 607,100 jobsWashington607,100Maryland: 527,200 jobsMaryland527,200Colorado: 484,300 jobsColorado484,300Massachusetts: 474,900 jobsMassachusetts474,900Tennessee: 457,300 jobsTennessee457,300Minnesota: 437,600 jobsMinnesota437,600Missouri: 432,900 jobsMissouri432,900Alabama: 431,200 jobsAlabama431,200Arizona: 426,300 jobsArizona426,300Indiana: 416,400 jobsIndiana416,400Wisconsin: 412,300 jobsWisconsin412,300South Carolina: 401,100 jobsSouth Carolina401,100Oklahoma: 371,900 jobsOklahoma371,900Louisiana: 326,000 jobsLouisiana326,000Kentucky: 315,300 jobsKentucky315,300Oregon: 311,700 jobsOregon311,700Utah: 276,200 jobsUtah276,200Iowa: 267,300 jobsIowa267,300Kansas: 257,000 jobsKansas257,000Mississippi: 236,000 jobsMississippi236,000Connecticut: 235,200 jobsConnecticut235,200District of Columbia: 207,600 jobsDistrict of Columbia207,600Arkansas: 204,800 jobsArkansas204,800New Mexico: 194,000 jobsNew Mexico194,000Nevada: 184,000 jobsNevada184,000Nebraska: 177,800 jobsNebraska177,800West Virginia: 147,800 jobsWest Virginia147,800Idaho: 128,800 jobsIdaho128,800Hawaii: 125,600 jobsHawaii125,600Maine: 102,500 jobsMaine102,500Montana: 91,300 jobsMontana91,300New Hampshire: 87,500 jobsNew Hampshire87,500North Dakota: 86,300 jobsNorth Dakota86,300South Dakota: 80,800 jobsSouth Dakota80,800Alaska: 77,300 jobsAlaska77,300Delaware: 71,800 jobsDelaware71,800Wyoming: 71,100 jobsWyoming71,100Rhode Island: 64,600 jobsRhode Island64,600Vermont: 57,300 jobsVermont57,300
jobs. Source: BLS, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStatesJuly 2026
jobs		Change on July 2025
1California2,663,400-0.8%
2Texas2,128,800-0.1%
3New York1,532,200+0.5%
4Florida1,138,700-1%
5Illinois857,300+0.7%
6Ohio786,500-1.2%
7North Carolina779,500+0.4%
8Virginia757,700-1.3%
9Georgia705,800-1.5%
10Pennsylvania700,100-0.5%
11Michigan642,500+2.2%
12New Jersey624,000-0.1%
13Washington607,100-1.7%
14Maryland527,200-2.2%
15Colorado484,300-1.1%
16Massachusetts474,900+0.1%
17Tennessee457,300+0.3%
18Minnesota437,600+0.9%
19Missouri432,900-0.3%
20Alabama431,200+1.4%
21Arizona426,300-1.7%
22Indiana416,400-4.3%
23Wisconsin412,300-0.9%
24South Carolina401,100+1.3%
25Oklahoma371,900-0.3%
26Louisiana326,000+0.1%
27Kentucky315,300-0.7%
28Oregon311,700-1.9%
29Utah276,200-1.2%
30Iowa267,300+0.2%
31Kansas257,000-1.5%
32Mississippi236,000+0.7%
33Connecticut235,200-0.8%
34District of Columbia207,600-11.1%
35Arkansas204,800-0.6%
36New Mexico194,000+2.3%
37Nevada184,0000%
38Nebraska177,800-0.9%
39West Virginia147,800-0.9%
40Idaho128,800-2%
41Hawaii125,600-0.7%
42Maine102,500-0.6%
43Montana91,300-1.4%
44New Hampshire87,500-0.5%
45North Dakota86,300+0.3%
46South Dakota80,800-1.2%
47Alaska77,300-2.4%
48Delaware71,800-0.8%
49Wyoming71,100-1.4%
50Rhode Island64,600-2.4%
51Vermont57,300+4%

Other periods

About this ranking

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.

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.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001) (US states by government payroll employment, 2026-07) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current

MLA 9

Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001), US states by government payroll employment, 2026-07. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 18 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-jobs/us-states?period=2026-07. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001). US states by government payroll employment, 2026-07. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-jobs/us-states?period=2026-07.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001), US states by government payroll employment, 2026-07 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-jobs/us-states?period=2026-07 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_government_2026,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001): US states by government payroll employment, 2026-07}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-jobs/us-states?period=2026-07. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001): US states by government payroll employment, 2026-07
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/18
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-jobs/us-states?period=2026-07
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/government-jobs/us-states?period=2026-07.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.76.Government.Current. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank US states by government payroll employment using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"payroll_employment_government","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=payroll_employment_government&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which state has the highest government payroll employment?

California, with 2,663,400 jobs in July 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which state has the lowest government payroll employment?

Vermont, with 57,300 jobs in July 2026.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, government, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000009000000001). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings