New Jersey and New York rank as the two states with the highest average gross pay for state employees in 2010, according to an analysis of recent U.S. Census of Governments data by CGR Govistics, a project of the Center for Governmental Research.
Following New Jersey and New York with an average annual state worker pay exceeding $51,000 are California, Alaska, Maryland and Connecticut. Among those states, the largest year-over-year percentage increase is in New York, which is up 3.4 percent. Connecticut is the only state of those six with a reduction in average gross pay from at a loss of-5 percent.
There are also five states that paid the average state worker under $35,000 in 2010. North Dakota paid the least amount, followed by West Virginia, South Dakota, Missouri and Indiana. Like Connecticut, Indiana has a year-over-year reduction for a loss of 4.3 percent.
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"Governments are people-driven businesses, and employees are their most valuable resource," says Dr. Joseph Stefko, CGR's director of public finance. "For this reason, work force costs consume a large portion of public budgets at all levels of government. These new data offer a window into those costs at the state level and how they compare across the country."
Stefko also says the focus on public employee costs are happening across the nation.
"A host of states face critical budgetary decisions in the coming years – New Jersey, New York, California, Rhode Island, Illinois and others. And while efforts to balance state budgets and stabilize state finances cannot ignore employee costs, discussions must be based on fact, not emotion."
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