The state of Florida had a population of 22,610,726 as of July 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That ranked third among all states — exceeded only by Texas, which had a population of 30,503,301; and California, which had a population of 38,965,193.
As of this September, federal, state and local governments in this country employed a record total of 23,421,000 individuals, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In other words, government payrolls were populated by more people than lived in the state of Florida or in any of 47 other states. Only California and Texas had populations that exceeded the number of people who work for government in this country.
There were a total of 159,105,000 people working in nonfarm jobs in the United States last month, according to the BLS. The record 23,421,000 working for government equaled 14.7% of that total.
More than one out of every seven workers in America worked for government.
In January 1939, the first month for which the BLS has published employment data, there were 29,923,000 total nonfarm workers in this country, and 3,988,000 of them — or 13.3% — worked for government.
At that time, government workers accounted for two out of every 15 workers.
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