Public Administration

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Workforce

7.13M

2019 ACS Estimate

Average Employee Age

44.8

Average Salary

$66,232

Average Male Salary

$73,319

Average Female Salary

$70,978

About

The top three occupations in the Public Administration Industry Group are Police officers, Other managers, Correctional officers and jailers, Firefighters, and Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers. On average, full-time employees in the Public Administration Industry Sector work 43 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $69,728. Part-time employees in the same industry work 20.1 hours and earn an average annual salary of $23,306.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Public Administration Industry Sector are Arlington County (South) PUMA, VA, District of Columbia (Central) PUMA, DC, and La Plata Town & Waldorf PUMA, MD. The industry that purchases the most products or services from the Hospitals Industry Group is Public Administration.

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Public Administration

Workforce

A snapshot of jobs, wages, and opportunities in the Public Administration Industry Sector. Police officers are the most common position, but the Public Administration Industry Sector employs a relatively high number of Correctional officers and jailers, compared to other industries.

The highest average salary in Public Administration goes to Surgeons.

Monthly Employment

Start Year

Y-Axis

−1.2%

Year-over-year decline

Employment change between May 2020 and May 2021

As of May 2021, there are 5.32M people employed in the State Government industry. This represents a −1.2% decrease in employment when compared to May 2020.

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

Occupations

Occupations by Share

7.13M

Workforce (ACS Estimate)

± 64k

−1.67%

1 Year Growth

± 1.29%

According to ACS estimates, the number of people employed in the Public Administration Industry Sector has been declining at a rate of −1.67%, , from 7.25M people in 2018 to 7.13M people in 2019.

The following graphic shows the share of employment in Public Administration by various occupations according to ACS estimates. Police officers represent the largest share of positions held in Public Administration at 10.4%, followed by Other managers with 5.72% and Correctional officers and jailers with 5.28%.

Most Common

The most common occupations in the Public Administration Industry Sector, by number of employees, are Police officers, Other managers, Correctional officers and jailers, Firefighters, and Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.

Most Specialized

Compared to other Industry Sectors, Public Administration employs an unusually high number of Correctional officers and jailers, Firstline supervisors of fire fighting & prevention workers, and Firstline supervisors of correctional officers.

Highest Paid

The highest paid occupations in Public Administration, by average wage, are Surgeons, Physicians, and Dentists.

Wages

Average Salary

$66,232

AVERAGE WAGE

± $408

On average, employees in the Public Administration Industry Sector make $66,232 per year. This number makes Public Administration the 5 highest paying Industry Sector in the United States out of a total of 14 Industry Sectors.

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUBLIC USE MICRODATA AREA

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows which public use microdata areas (PUMAs) pay the highest average salary to employees in the Public Administration Industry Sector.

Wage Distribution

0.334

WAGE GINI

Public Administration has a wage GINI of 0.334, which is less than than the national average of 0.478. 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).

Opportunities

Spatial Concentration

Public Use Microdata Areas with RCA

This map shows the PUMAs in the United States that have revealed comparative advantage in the Public Administration Industry Sector.

These are locations that employ more people in the Public Administration Industry Sector than expected given both the size of that location's overall labor pool and the national size of the Public Administration Industry Sector.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Public Administration Industry Sector in the US. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $73,319 and $70,978. So too tend to earn more than other races and ethnicities in this industry.

Composition by Sex

3.25M

FEMALE WORKFORCE

±43.8k

3.88M

MALE WORKFORCE

±47.7k

54.4% of workers in the Public Administration Industry Sector are Male, making them the more common sex in the workforce. This chart shows the sex breakdown of the Public Administration Industry Sector.

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$73,319

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$580

$70,978

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$558

On average, Male workers in the Public Administration Industry Sector make 1.03 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.

Wage by Race & Ethnicity in Common Jobs

RACE OR ETHNICITY WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARY

Asian
American Indian and Alaska Native tribes specified; or American Indian or Alaska Native, not specified and no other races
Two or More Races

On average, Asian employees in the Public Administration Industry Sector earn 1.18 times more than other races and ethnicities. This chart shows the race and ethnicity-based wage disparities in the 5 most common occupations in the Public Administration Industry Sector.

Input/Output

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. 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 Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing.

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.

Industrial Flow

Intermediate Inputs

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

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 Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing 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.

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