Comparison of private-sector and public-sector employees
| Characteristics of sample | Private | Public* | Difference (public–private |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income and work hours | |||
| Individual total income | $60,478 | $55,521 | -$4,957 |
| Family total income | $109,852 | $107,610 | -$2,242 |
| Real wage earnings | $60,172 | $54,898 | -$5,273 |
| Total compensation | $75,215 | $74,782 | -$432 |
| Usual hours of work | 43.9 | 42.7 | -1.2 |
| Demographics | |||
| Age | 43.3 | 46.2 | 2.9 |
| Female | 40.8% | 56.7% | 15.9 ppt. |
| Married | 61.5% | 67.0% | 5.5 ppt. |
| Disabled | 4.5% | 5.0% | 0.5 ppt. |
| White | 85.1% | 83.8% | -1.3 ppt. |
| Black | 8.7% | 12.2% | 3.5 ppt. |
| Asian | 6.2% | 4.0% | -2.2 ppt. |
| Hispanic | 13.2% | 9.1% | -4.1 ppt. |
| Most advanced education | |||
| Less than high school | 3.8% | 1.2% | -2.6 ppt. |
| High school or GED | 27.9% | 16.6% | -11.3 ppt. |
| Some college | 15.9% | 12.6% | -3.2 ppt. |
| Associate’s degree | 9.7% | 8.8% | -0.8 ppt. |
| College and advanced | 31.5% | 54.1% | 22.5 ppt. |
| College | 21.9% | 25.9% | 3.9 ppt. |
| Master’s | 6.8% | 21.8% | 15.0 ppt. |
| Professional | 1.9% | 3.1% | 1.2 ppt. |
| Doctorate | 1.0% | 3.4% | 2.4 ppt. |
| Occupations | |||
| Managers | 17.2% | 12.5% | -4.7 ppt. |
| Professionals and related | 17.7% | 44.4% | 26.7 ppt. |
| Sales | 11.8% | 0.8% | -11.0 ppt. |
| Administrative and clerical | 15.1% | 13.8% | -1.3 ppt. |
| Service | 9.9% | 18.9% | 9.0 ppt. |
| Installation and repair | 4.6% | 1.8% | -2.8 ppt. |
| Construction | 3.8% | 1.4% | -2.4 ppt. |
| Production | 8.5% | 1.3% | -7.2 ppt. |
| Transportation and moving | 8.3% | 4.0% | -4.3 ppt. |
| Observations | |||
| 3,004,761 | 2,459,204 | 545,557 |
Note: Data are for employees in state and local government.
Source: Author's analysis of data pooled for 2010–2013 from the American Community Survey (Ruggles et al.)