*The private sector number would include a whole lot of part-time workers at or near minimum wage at WalMart, Burger King, etc.*
This point is made every time one of these stories gets re-re-re-reposted. No one listens.
*Living in one of the most expensive counties in the U.S.
made it no fun.*
Point 2—most of these jobs are in DC metro, where one needs to make 100K just to pay rent. Many other Feds work in NYC. Still more are stationed in every state capitol or large coastal port cities—all of which are more expensive to live in than Peoria, IL. Again, this point is made all the time; no one listens.
Point 3—a lot of Fed jobs are at the VA, which employs Docs & Nurses & Mental Health Practitioners. These employees are not cheap, of course.
Point 4—your local DMV guys/gals and toll booth collectors are NOT Feds.
After two years at the Pentagon, (Linda) Tripp
received favorable job evaluations that helped
boost her salary to $88,000.
She could type 30 words per minute and run a xerox,
$88K is way too much money.
Chop the size of government, Federal and state, significantly and see what supply and demand do to those rents.