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OPM FedScope June 2026 Federal civilian workforce

Federal Employment in Washington

Washington ranks #16 of 51 states and territories by federal civilian headcount in OPM FedScope June 2026. Washington is a large federal duty-station market: 23,282 civilians (1.2% of the disclosed workforce) at $116,221 average pay. Pay lands in the upper third of states (Near federal average). Average length of service (13.1 yrs) is among the longer state books. Source: OPM FedScope June 2026.

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Federal Employees

23,282

+0.3% from prior period

Average Salary

$116,221

Near federal average

+0.0%

Avg Length of Service

13.1 yrs

Average tenure

Agencies Present

53

Federal Agencies in Washington

53 agencies disclose staff here, a dense agency book for Washington; DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS alone accounts for 9,160 civilians.

1. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF…9,1602. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE2,4413. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR2,3814. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY2,0215. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTAT…1,9416. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE9907. SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTR…9468. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SE…7719. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND …71710. DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY461
Largest federal employers in Washington (by civilian employees)

The 10 largest federal agencies in Washington by civilian headcount.

Source: OPM FedScope

# Agency Employees Avg Salary
1 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 9,160 $116,959
2 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 2,441 $80,291
3 DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR 2,381 $92,672
4 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 2,021 $142,384
5 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 1,941 $145,585
6 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 990 $127,526
7 SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 946 $106,850
8 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 771 $118,627
9 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 717 $117,875
10 DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY 461 $109,490
11 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 396 $139,027
12 GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION 228 $130,235
13 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 170 $123,860
14 DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 151 $127,493
15 DEPARTMENT OF STATE 101 $108,453
16 DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPM 84 $142,264
17 FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION 46 $155,530
18 SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 39 $111,562
19 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION 27 $126,069
20 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 27 $144,798
21 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 26 $153,447
22 NAT AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 22 $170,925
23 FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 20 $179,407
24 NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION 18 n/a
25 NAT ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION 17 $91,800
26 FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 16 $190,365
27 RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD 7 $110,025
28 PEACE CORPS 6 $125,071
29 FED MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE 6 $159,636
30 NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD 5 $128,105
31 GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 4 $98,102
32 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 4 $147,534
33 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 4 $168,355
34 OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 4 $144,550
35 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 2 $112,347
36 CORP FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE 2 $131,721
37 INTER BOUND AND WATER COMM U.S. SECTION 2 $132,547
38 PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION 2 $130,988
39 DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD 2 $164,823
40 MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION 2 $129,530
41 U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEV 1 $134,276
42 FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 1 $176,183
43 DFC 1 $169,644
44 EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES 1 $123,618
45 CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION 1 $174,357
46 ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 1 $98,459
47 FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY 1 $240,114
48 FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY 1 $183,782
49 SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM 1 $166,283
50 MEDICAID & CHIP PAYMENT & ACCESS COMM 1 $197,863
51 CMTE FOR PURCH FRM PPLE BLIND OR SEV DIS 1 $184,115
52 U.S. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS 1 $169,644
53 OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION 1 $160,218

Where Washington sits nationally

With 23,282 civilians, Washington anchors the upper headcount band among 51 states and territories (inventory signal, not a quality ranking).

Washington vs all states by federal civilian headcount

Where this state's disclosed OPM FedScope employee count sits among every tracked state and territory

23,282 16th of 51 higher than 35 of 51 states

States and territories, banded by federal civilian headcount

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source OPM FedScope Employment Cubes · June 2026

Similar States by Federal Employment

Other large duty-station books nearest Washington's 23,282-employee scale.

Arizona

23,479 employees $104,382 avg

Tennessee

22,414 employees $100,769 avg

Colorado

24,385 employees $120,244 avg

Missouri

25,174 employees $98,611 avg

Ohio

25,990 employees $113,832 avg

North Carolina

26,746 employees $112,595 avg

High-pay peers of Washington

Cross-state peers on OPM FedScope average pay and length of service, separate from the headcount neighbourhood above.

Similar average salary

Nearest state-wide average salaries ($116,221 here).

New York
$116,309 avg · 35,791 employees
Delaware
$116,878 avg · 2,221 employees
Vermont
$118,036 avg · 2,454 employees
Ohio
$113,832 avg · 25,990 employees
Georgia
$113,374 avg · 39,575 employees
Rhode Island
$119,256 avg · 2,973 employees

Similar average tenure

Nearest state-wide average length of service (13.1 years here).

Alabama
13.1 yrs avg tenure · 15,145 employees
Colorado
13.1 yrs avg tenure · 24,385 employees
Georgia
13 yrs avg tenure · 39,575 employees
Louisiana
12.9 yrs avg tenure · 11,836 employees
Massachusetts
12.9 yrs avg tenure · 16,188 employees
Texas
12.9 yrs avg tenure · 73,050 employees

Data Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FedScope Employment Cubes, June 2026. Federal civilian non-seasonal full-time and part-time employees. Data does not include military personnel, postal workers, or intelligence agency staff. Last updated: 2026-08-11.

Data sourced from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes and Federal Workforce Data (FWD). See our methodology for details, or report a data error on this page. Retrieved and formatted by PlainGovJobs from OPM FedScope state-level employment records 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.

Data currency: Employment stock from OPM Federal Workforce Data June 2026 (prior-period deltas vs May 2026); monthly hiring/separations from FWD Dynamics June 2024–June 2026 (filled civilian headcount and flows, not live USAJOBS vacancy listings). State pages sum only duty stations with a disclosed US state/DC code; 898,675 employees have redacted geography in the release and appear in the national total only. Database compiled 2026-08-11. See our methodology § populations for the three windows. Spot a figure that looks wrong? Report a correction.