States with the Most Federal Employees
All states ranked by total federal civilian workforce size.
According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management FedScope dataset (June 2026), this ranking draws on 1,953,300 federal civilian employees across 126 agencies and 51 state/DC geographies - see our methodology for how the figures are computed.
District of Columbia leads with 96,552 on the employees measure - the median of the 51 ranked states is Wisconsin at 13,409.
The ranking in one line
District of Columbia leads at 96,552; the #10 cutoff to make this top-10 chart is 27,107, and Delaware anchors #51 of this complete states list at 2,221.
- 96,552
- #1 · District of Columbia
- 27,107
- #10 cutoff to make this list
- 2,221
- #51 · bottom of this complete list
- 13,409
- median · Wisconsin
OPM FedScope June 2026. Values are the "Employees" measure for every ranked state in this extract.
What This Ranking Tells Us
The distribution of federal employees across states reflects the geography of government operations. Washington, D.C. and neighboring Virginia and Maryland concentrate the largest shares due to the proximity of federal headquarters. States with major military installations (Texas, California), Veterans Affairs medical centers, and large federal land holdings also rank high. These rankings matter for local economies, federal payrolls are a significant economic driver in many communities, and shifts in workforce policy directly impact these regions.
What the Ranked Data Shows
This ranking covers 51 federal states drawn from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes. The leader is District of Columbia with 96,552 on the "Employees" measure - 7.2× the median state (13,409). Federal workforce data of this kind is widely used by USAJOBS applicants, congressional staff, and GAO analysts to understand where federal hiring and compensation are concentrated across the country.
The median state in this list is Wisconsin at 13,409, illustrating the midpoint of the distribution. At the other end, Delaware anchors the bottom of the ranked set with 2,221. The spread between leader and trailing positions is what matters most for policy: it shows how unevenly federal employment, compensation, and tenure are distributed across jurisdictions and departments, and where shifts in locality pay, mission assignments, or hiring freezes would bite hardest.
For job seekers evaluating federal career moves on USAJOBS, these rankings inform strategic choices: a higher-salary state or agency often signals concentrated senior-grade positions, while a large-headcount jurisdiction points to broader entry-level opportunity. Combined with length-of-service patterns, the ranking gives a practical view of where the federal workforce is most durable and where turnover creates openings. Data sourced from Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FedScope and refreshed as OPM publishes new semi-annual FedScope releases.
The top 10 federal states by employees, OPM FedScope.
The bar to make this list
How employees is distributed across all 51 states - most cluster in the middle, with a long tail at the top. A state needs about 27,107 to reach the top 10.
Distribution of employees across all 51 federal states.
| # | Name | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 96,552 |
| 2 | California | 78,484 |
| 3 | Maryland | 75,194 |
| 4 | Texas | 73,050 |
| 5 | Florida | 55,342 |
| 6 | Virginia | 44,228 |
| 7 | Georgia | 39,575 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 36,115 |
| 9 | New York | 35,791 |
| 10 | Illinois | 27,107 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 26,746 |
| 12 | Ohio | 25,990 |
| 13 | Missouri | 25,174 |
| 14 | Colorado | 24,385 |
| 15 | Arizona | 23,479 |
| 16 | Washington | 23,282 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 22,414 |
| 18 | Michigan | 18,311 |
| 19 | Massachusetts | 16,188 |
| 20 | Oregon | 15,964 |
| 21 | Utah | 15,153 |
| 22 | Alabama | 15,145 |
| 23 | Oklahoma | 14,632 |
| 24 | New Mexico | 14,008 |
| 25 | Minnesota | 13,729 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | 13,409 |
| 27 | West Virginia | 13,160 |
| 28 | South Carolina | 12,597 |
| 29 | Kentucky | 12,078 |
| 30 | Louisiana | 11,836 |
| 31 | Indiana | 11,286 |
| 32 | New Jersey | 10,635 |
| 33 | Nevada | 10,191 |
| 34 | Arkansas | 9,591 |
| 35 | Kansas | 9,263 |
| 36 | Mississippi | 9,171 |
| 37 | Montana | 8,643 |
| 38 | Idaho | 8,282 |
| 39 | Iowa | 7,038 |
| 40 | South Dakota | 6,731 |
| 41 | Alaska | 5,778 |
| 42 | Nebraska | 5,419 |
| 43 | Wyoming | 5,254 |
| 44 | Connecticut | 5,003 |
| 45 | Hawaii | 4,780 |
| 46 | New Hampshire | 3,670 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 3,618 |
| 48 | Maine | 3,506 |
| 49 | Rhode Island | 2,973 |
| 50 | Vermont | 2,454 |
| 51 | Delaware | 2,221 |
Source: Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FedScope.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which state has the most federal employees?
California and Texas typically have the most federal civilian employees due to their large populations, military bases, VA hospitals, and federal land holdings. Virginia and Maryland rank high due to proximity to Washington, D.C. and the concentration of agency headquarters in the National Capital Region.
How many federal civilian employees are there?
The federal civilian workforce includes 1,953,300 employees across all agencies in the June 2026 FedScope stock. This excludes military active duty personnel, postal workers, and contractors. The total has remained relatively stable over the past decade despite shifts between agencies.
Does the state ranking include military personnel?
No. This ranking includes only federal civilian employees as reported in OPM FedScope data. Active duty military, National Guard in federal status, and uniformed services of other agencies are counted separately. Including military would significantly change rankings for states with large bases.
Explore More Rankings
Download the 51-jurisdiction duty-station extract: federal-workforce-by-state.csv (same extract as /statistics).
PlainGovJobs is rendered directly from OPM FedScope federal-workforce data, figures are sourced from published program rules and verified against primary sources. The ranking table, chart, and summary line above are computed live from OPM FedScope employment records; the explanatory narrative and FAQ answers are editorial context, not live queries. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Data current as of June 2026. OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.