I just applied for a Federal job today that pays $80,000 a year and those cushie Fed benefits.
Private sector for the same job in the same geographic area? $55,000 a year.
So it’s not just fed employees making more than State Governors, it’s overpay at all levels.
Obviously the jobs are not the same, or the guy paying $55k would have to shell out to match the $80k to get anybody to work for him.
I can’t help but wonder if the Feds standardize their pay scale across the federation ill-respective of the different costs of living, dollar value, or local demand situation.
Some very high cost areas like New York city and Washington D.C. probably contribute in no small part to the wages. To be honest for the most part the inflated pay is probably a combination of union-politician conspiring against the tax payer and ultimately the fact that Unlike the States the Feds don’t have to face fiscal reality(they can instead devalue everyone else’s wealth without telling em).