The Federal Workforce by the Numbers

The executive branch employed about 2.3 million civilian workers, not counting the roughly 600,000 employees of the Postal Service, at the start of 2025, along with about 1.3 million active-duty service members. The civilian total has stayed in a similar range since the 1960s even as the population and federal spending grew, because much federal work is carried out by contractors, grantees, and state and local governments. The government has published counts of its employees since the first Official Register in 1816, and the Office of Personnel Management now reports detailed workforce data.

Contrary to a common image, only about 15 percent of federal civilian employees work in the Washington area, and the rest work across the country and abroad, at military bases, veterans hospitals, national parks, airports, ports of entry, and field offices. The Defense Department employs the most civilians, followed by Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, and together national security and veterans agencies account for about 70 percent of the workforce. Federal employees are older on average than private-sector workers, more likely to hold college degrees, and about 30 percent are military veterans.

In 2025 the administration cut the workforce sharply through a deferred resignation offer announced on January 28, the firing of thousands of probationary employees, reductions in force, a hiring freeze, and the dismantling of some agencies, and OPM reported that roughly 300,000 employees left during the year. Supporters said a smaller workforce would reduce costs and make government more efficient, while critics said the cuts were made without analysis of what work would go undone, harmed services such as veterans care and tax processing, and shifted costs to contractors.