The Institute of Social & Economic Research

The Alaska Citizen's Guide to the Budget

Financial Assistance
provided by:
Fiscal Policy Council of Alaska

Comparisons
Comparisons
Outlays—Per Capita
Outlays—Big Items
Outlays—History
Outlays—Rankings
Jobs and Payroll—Per Capita
Jobs and Payroll—Big Items
Jobs and Payroll—History
Jobs and Payroll—Rank
Assets and Debt
Financing Govt.
Compare Wyoming
Why Alaska Spends More
Tax Burden
State Share

 

 

4. Comparison to Other States

4.8 More State Workers—How Do We Rank?

Alaska in 1997 had 747 state and local government employees for every 10,000 residents. The national average was 531, putting Alaska at 41% above the national average.

Surprisingly, Alaska was not at the top of the list for the concentration of public employees in the population. That honor was reserved for Wyoming with 801 government employees per 10,000 residents.

One reason Wyoming tops Alaska is because it has a large number of public hospitals. Wyoming also ranks considerably higher than Alaska in both elementary/secondary and higher education employment. (See the analysis of Wyoming.)

Public Employment (State and Local) per 10,000 Population
in 1997

Rank

State

Employment

Employment per 10,000

Ratio to US Average

-

Washington, DC

46,246

872.74

1.64

1

Wyoming

38,446

800.89

1.51

2

Alaska

45,490

746.56

1.41

3

New Mexico

110,980

643.75

1.21

4

Mississippi

173,591

635.48

1.20

5

Nebraska

105,101

634.28

1.19

6

Kansas

162,776

625.72

1.18

7

New York

1,110,246

610.85

1.15

8

Louisiana

264,467

607.46

1.14

9

Oklahoma

201,550

606.78

1.14

10

Alabama

256,458

593.36

1.12

11

Iowa

168,531

590.44

1.11

12

South Carolina

221,735

585.34

1.10

13

Georgia

435,945

582.04

1.10

14

Montana

50,924

579.52

1.09

15

Texas

1,112,355

573.80

1.08

16

North Dakota

36,605

571.09

1.08

17

Idaho

68,572

567.24

1.07

18

North Carolina

415,803

559.58

1.05

19

Minnesota

260,244

555.20

1.05

20

Delaware

40,741

554.19

1.04

21

Hawaii

65,995

553.62

1.04

22

Arkansas

139,367

552.35

1.04

23

Colorado

212,578

546.19

1.03

24

South Dakota

39,837

539.98

1.02

25

Missouri

290,454

537.04

1.01

26

Maine

66,387

534.56

1.01

27

Virginia

358,733

532.44

1.00

28

Oregon

171,712

529.44

1.00

29

Utah

109,028

527.98

0.99

30

Kentucky

206,356

527.72

0.99

31

Indiana

307,385

524.11

0.99

32

New Jersey

421,282

522.79

0.98

33

Washington

293,245

522.33

0.98

34

Vermont

30,266

514.18

0.97

35

Tennessee

276,033

513.87

0.97

36

Wisconsin

266,342

512.08

0.96

37

West Virginia

92,275

508.34

0.96

38

Connecticut

164,112

502.30

0.95

39

Ohio

561,229

501.41

0.94

40

Illinois

600,920

501.21

0.94

41

Rhode Island

49,279

499.15

0.94

42

Florida

730,982

498.04

0.94

43

Arizona

226,563

497.59

0.94

44

Massachusetts

303,665

496.64

0.94

45

Maryland

251,703

494.03

0.93

46

Michigan

470,613

481.20

0.91

47

New Hampshire

55,859

476.56

0.90

48

California

1,529,599

475.29

0.89

49

Nevada

79,577

474.04

0.89

50

Pennsylvania

515,927

429.54

0.81

Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce, State and Local Government Employment and Payroll for March 1997. Full-time Equivalent Employment.

 

Alaska public employment is above the national average in most functional categories, but there is considerable variation. As one might expect Alaska ranks at the top in the functional categories of natural resources and financial administration (including management of the Permanent Fund). We were number one in public welfare and other government administration. The number of programs unique to Alaska reflects the fact that we are also number one in the category of "Other and Unallocable."

Alaska Public Employment (State and Local) Rank
by Function in 1997

Alaska Rank

Government Function

Employment

Employees Per 10K Population

Ratio, AK/US

2

Total

45,490

746.56

1.41

1

Natural Resources

2,128

34.92

5.07

1

Unique (Other and Unallocable)

3,451
56.64

3.26

1

Other Government Administration

1,323

21.71

2.32

1

Financial Administration

1,800

29.54

2.19

1

Public Welfare

2,034

33.38

1.88

2

Streets & Highways

3,333

54.70

2.76

2

Housing & Community Development.

594

9.75

2.27

4

Water Transport/Terminals

114

1.87

3.90

4

Electric Power

563

9.24

3.15

3

Judicial and Legal

1,275

20.92

1.63

3

K thru 12 Schools - (Other than Instruction)

4,914

80.65

1.30

4

K thru 12 Schools – Instruction

11,344

186.17

1.29

4

Police Protection (Other than Officers)

612

10.04

1.37

6

Education (Other than K – 12 or higher)

491

8.06

2.37

7

Social Insurance Administration

381

6.25

1.80

7

Solid Waste Management

394

6.47

1.60

9

Sewerage

331

5.43

1.18

13

Health

1,041

17.08

1.21

19

Higher Education (Other than Instruction)

2,936

48.18

1.22

19

Air Transportation

77

1.26

0.92

19

Libraries

282

4.63

1.13

19

Parks & Recreation

567

9.31

1.08

19

Correction

1,309

21.48

0.89

20

Water Supply

378

6.20

1.08

20

Transit

241

3.96

0.56

27

Firefighters

545

8.94

0.93

36

Higher Education-Instruction

1,310

21.50

0.98

41

Fire-Other

22

0.36

0.47

45

Police Protection-Officers

992

16.28

0.72

46

Hospitals

708

11.62

0.32

*

State Liquor Stores

0

0.00

N/A

*

Gas Supply

0

0.00

N/A

*Alaska and a number of other states have no employees in these categories.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, State and Local Government Employment and Payroll for March 1997. Full-time Equivalent.

 
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