How Much Are State and Local Government Workers Overpaid? By Mike “Mish” Shedlock

The days when public sector workers made less than their private sector counterparts, but had more job security. Now days, public sector workers have their cake and eat it, too. From Mike “Mish” Shedlock at mishtalk.com:

Let’s discuss the latest BLS report on employer costs with a special focus on teachers.

Employer costs from the BLS, chart by Mish

Employer Cost Synopsis

  • Government Wages Plus Benefits: $61.27
  • Private Wages and Benefits: $43.78
  • Government Wages: $37.90
  • Private Wages: $30.76

Government hourly wages are 23.2 percent more than private workers on average.

Benefits are the real killer.

Government total compensation is 39.9 percent more than private workers.

What About Teachers?

Employer costs from the BLS, chart by Mish

Teachers make $52.29 per hour in direct wages. But they make a whopping $79.38 per hour in total benefits.

Benefits for teachers are an addition 52 percent of wages.

Economic Fairness

Education Week reports Biden Calls for Teacher Pay Raises, Expanded Pre-K in State of the Union

Biden called on lawmakers Thursday to “give every child a good start by providing access to pre-school for 3- and 4-year-olds,” but he did not detail a specific plan to pay for universal pre-kindergarten, which he has called for in the past and included in his Build Back Better proposal that never passed the Senate.

Biden’s call for giving public school teachers a raise also included no specifics. It was included in a portion of the address focused on economic fairness, which included a push to raise taxes on the highest income earners to help cover the costs of domestic policy priorities.

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One response to “How Much Are State and Local Government Workers Overpaid? By Mike “Mish” Shedlock

  1. Who do you think all of them will vote for?

    Muh Brandon and the historic lazers of FAIL.

    Yes we can!

    This is what we are up against.

    Who is the biggest employer in the FUSA/AINO?

    That’s right, gov, even more than CCP-Mart AKA Wallyworld.

    In 2022, around 19.23 million people were working for state and local governments in the United States.

    CCP-Mart and Bezoszon (Ama) have 1.6 million

    (H/T-Statista)

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