As the Trump administration takes drastic measures to cut the federal workforce, a new Economic Policy Institute resource calculates the number of federal workers and their share of total employment in every state, county, congressional district, and metro area.
The federal workforce consists of roughly 3 million employees distributed throughout the country. However, the Trump administration has issued a Schedule F executive order to make it easier to fire federal workers in jobs that are normally apolitical, and the administration has recently instructed federal agencies to prepare for large-scale layoffs.
The impact of the Trump administration’s attacks on the federal workforce will be felt in every region of the country. The following states (and Washington, D.C.) have the highest proportion of their workforce employed by the federal government:
- Washington, D.C.: 13.2% of total employment (48,859 workers)
- Maryland: 7.3% (224,229 workers)
- Virginia: 5.6% (234,242 workers)
- New Mexico: 4.8% (43,992 workers)
- Hawaii: 4.6% (29,217 workers)
- Alaska: 4.5% (14,947 workers)
The data are based on EPI analysis of the 2023 American Community Survey and estimates previously published in a 2024 Congressional Research Service report. Viewers can download the data for every region at the level of congressional districts, counties, metro areas, or states. Congressional district data represent the 118th U.S. Congress.