EXography: 19 U.S. cities have proportionately bigger workforces than bankrupted Detroit
1 city employee for every how many residents?
Cities have wildly varying civil servant workforces relative to their population size, from 1 city worker for every 28 residents in San Francisco to only 1 for every 137 residents in San Diego. Red circles represent cities with the most expansive bureaucracies, while green represent the leanest. A full list follows.
Detroit declared bankruptcy due in no small part to $3 billion in unfunded public employee pensions owed a sprawling city workforce that kept growing even as the city’s population shriveled, but a Washington Examiner analysis found that 19 major American cities have even bigger ratios of such workers to residents.
The Examiner used the Census Bureau's 2011 Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll to rank every U.S. city with a population of 200,000 or more.
Some of those cities managed to get along fine with comparatively few municipal employees, such as San Diego, which has 9,501 employees for 1.3 million residents, or one for every 137 residents.
But others like San Francisco had a bureaucracy seven times as large, with one of every 28 of the city's 800,000 residents on the city payroll.
Remarkably, the Census Bureau excluded from these figures all teachers and education professionals, which make up the largest group of local government employees.
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The figures also do not include separate government divisions that comprise significant portions of many urban public workforces, like the 1,200-employee Baltimore City Housing Authority, the 1,000-employee Philadelphia Housing Authority and the 2,300 employee Chicago Park District.
Transit systems, such as the 9,500-worker Chicago Transit Authority and New York's 7,000-person Port Authority, are also not counted.
In different places, levels of government have different cost-sharing arrangements, with the state, county and special taxation districts for services like sewage picking up part of the tab, so these figures represent somewhat less than all of the government employees for which residents of a jurisdiction support with tax dollars.
That also means that a simple comparison of city workforces -- especially between cities in different states -- doesn't always show the full picture.
Washington, D.C. ranks first in the nation, which is no surprise to residents who recall the dramatic growth of the municipal workforce in the 1980s under then-mayor Marion Barry, who created hundreds of new positions to help reduce unemployment and encourage growth of a black upper-middle class.
But D.C. also has the distinction of providing services that in many other places are often split among multiple levels of government, including state, local and county authorities.
The District’s status as the national capital makes the burden on other cities all the more dramatic, cities like Baton Rouge, with one in 30 residents a city employee; Richmond, at one in 39; Denver, with one in 49; Cleveland and St. Louis, at one in 50; and Philadelphia and Atlanta with one in 51.
Philadelphia's city council president this week began pushing a plan to use part of a 1-percent sales tax hike to pay for city worker pensions, which are significantly underfunded.
Some cities such as Rochester have, like Detroit, seen dramatic population losses without commensurate reductions in the city workforce, illustrating what many see as government's tendency always to grow bigger, without ever losing wasteful or obsolete programs.
San Francisco's 28,660 workers, with an average salary of $91,000, come in a long tail of different job categories, including 2,000 health employees -- not including city hospitals --1,843 welfare workers, 2,872 judicial and corrections officers, 1,081 parks workers, and 1,171 in "other government administration." The city by the bay’s 4,266 transit workers do not include Bay Area Rapid Transit employees presently striking for a 21 percent pay increase.
The city with the leanest government is Bakersfield, Ca., which has 1,410 employees for 348,000 residents, or one for every 246. The city's population has quadrupled in the last 40 years, and its public employee workforce may have lagged behind. The city is one of California’s most conservative and the largest that employs the lowest sales tax allowed by state law.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated San Diego's population and city workforce and incorrectly said some cities ranking higher than Detroit paid their workers twice as much. An earlier version of the list also displayed some cities' payroll costs as twice their actual dollar amount.
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WASHINGTON DC
Residents per employee 25 Population: 601,723 Employees: 23,631 Annual payroll: $1,738,914,588 Average salary: $73,846 Back to map -
SAN FRANCISCO
Residents per employee 28 Population: 805,235 Employees: 28,660 Annual payroll: $2,564,000,376 Average salary: $90,702 Back to map -
BATON ROUGE-EAST BATON ROUGE
Residents per employee 30 Population: 229,493 Employees: 7,566 Annual payroll: $336,309,768 Average salary: $47,228 Back to map -
NEW YORK
Residents per employee 32 Population: 8,175,133 Employees: 252,701 Annual payroll: $18,645,049,116 Average salary: $74,270 Back to map -
RICHMOND
Residents per employee 39 Population: 204,214 Employees: 5,183 Annual payroll: $245,372,376 Average salary: $47,905 Back to map -
BALTIMORE
Residents per employee 43 Population: 620,961 Employees: 14,438 Annual payroll: $705,692,760 Average salary: $49,186 Back to map -
NORFOLK
Residents per employee 44 Population: 242,803 Employees: 5,512 Annual payroll: $252,770,712 Average salary: $46,944 Back to map -
BIRMINGHAM
Residents per employee 44 Population: 212,237 Employees: 4,749 Annual payroll: $230,290,992 Average salary: $49,358 Back to map -
DENVER
Residents per employee 49 Population: 600,158 Employees: 12,233 Annual payroll: $802,864,752 Average salary: $66,500 Back to map -
CLEVELAND
Residents per employee 50 Population: 396,815 Employees: 7,791 Annual payroll: $425,029,356 Average salary: $54,929 Back to map -
ST LOUIS
Residents per employee 50 Population: 319,294 Employees: 6,335 Annual payroll: $300,266,820 Average salary: $47,566 Back to map -
PHILADELPHIA
Residents per employee 51 Population: 1,526,006 Employees: 29,607 Annual payroll: $1,727,952,204 Average salary: $58,551 Back to map -
ATLANTA
Residents per employee 51 Population: 420,003 Employees: 8,091 Annual payroll: $371,572,752 Average salary: $45,931 Back to map -
NEW ORLEANS
Residents per employee 52 Population: 343,829 Employees: 6,593 Annual payroll: $308,493,468 Average salary: $47,044 Back to map -
CINCINNATI
Residents per employee 52 Population: 296,943 Employees: 5,644 Annual payroll: $316,340,436 Average salary: $58,324 Back to map -
SEATTLE
Residents per employee 56 Population: 608,660 Employees: 10,702 Annual payroll: $839,048,052 Average salary: $81,488 Back to map -
NASHVILLE-DAVIDSON COUNTY
Residents per employee 58 Population: 601,222 Employees: 10,362 Annual payroll: $536,638,152 Average salary: $52,470 Back to map -
CHESAPEAKE
Residents per employee 58 Population: 222,209 Employees: 3,819 Annual payroll: $172,783,464 Average salary: $46,324 Back to map -
COLORADO SPRINGS
Residents per employee 60 Population: 416,427 Employees: 6,852 Annual payroll: $438,830,400 Average salary: $64,810 Back to map -
DETROIT
Residents per employee 61 Population: 713,777 Employees: 11,645 Annual payroll: $651,437,244 Average salary: $56,491 Back to map -
AUSTIN
Residents per employee 63 Population: 790,390 Employees: 12,445 Annual payroll: $740,342,856 Average salary: $59,830 Back to map -
INDIANAPOLIS
Residents per employee 65 Population: 820,445 Employees: 12,433 Annual payroll: $588,926,688 Average salary: $48,000 Back to map -
BOSTON
Residents per employee 65 Population: 617,594 Employees: 9,390 Annual payroll: $687,645,792 Average salary: $74,347 Back to map -
ROCHESTER
Residents per employee 65 Population: 210,565 Employees: 3,228 Annual payroll: $186,459,144 Average salary: $60,800 Back to map -
VIRGINIA BEACH
Residents per employee 68 Population: 437,994 Employees: 6,423 Annual payroll: $294,678,480 Average salary: $48,023 Back to map -
KANSAS CITY
Residents per employee 69 Population: 459,787 Employees: 6,646 Annual payroll: $357,365,988 Average salary: $53,771 Back to map -
MEMPHIS
Residents per employee 70 Population: 646,889 Employees: 9,150 Annual payroll: $507,987,720 Average salary: $56,115 Back to map -
MONTGOMERY
Residents per employee 71 Population: 205,764 Employees: 2,885 Annual payroll: $121,177,596 Average salary: $42,301 Back to map -
NEWARK
Residents per employee 72 Population: 277,140 Employees: 3,803 Annual payroll: $265,014,924 Average salary: $71,267 Back to map -
LOS ANGELES
Residents per employee 73 Population: 3,792,621 Employees: 51,270 Annual payroll: $4,608,662,892 Average salary: $93,517 Back to map -
MINNEAPOLIS
Residents per employee 74 Population: 382,578 Employees: 5,111 Annual payroll: $310,851,072 Average salary: $62,309 Back to map -
JERSEY CITY
Residents per employee 75 Population: 247,597 Employees: 3,287 Annual payroll: $234,672,708 Average salary: $73,220 Back to map -
MADISON
Residents per employee 75 Population: 233,209 Employees: 3,101 Annual payroll: $183,011,076 Average salary: $62,233 Back to map -
LONG BEACH
Residents per employee 77 Population: 462,257 Employees: 5,983 Annual payroll: $410,081,880 Average salary: $71,824 Back to map -
LEXINGTON-FAYETTE
Residents per employee 77 Population: 295,803 Employees: 3,800 Annual payroll: $201,660,984 Average salary: $54,827 Back to map -
BUFFALO
Residents per employee 77 Population: 261,310 Employees: 3,366 Annual payroll: $180,983,196 Average salary: $53,759 Back to map -
CHICAGO
Residents per employee 78 Population: 2,695,598 Employees: 34,226 Annual payroll: $2,162,142,732 Average salary: $63,362 Back to map -
TAMPA
Residents per employee 79 Population: 335,709 Employees: 4,244 Annual payroll: $270,084,336 Average salary: $64,744 Back to map -
DALLAS
Residents per employee 82 Population: 1,197,816 Employees: 14,494 Annual payroll: $814,660,320 Average salary: $56,767 Back to map -
ALBUQUERQUE
Residents per employee 83 Population: 545,852 Employees: 6,502 Annual payroll: $398,229,912 Average salary: $63,630 Back to map -
ST PETERSBURG
Residents per employee 83 Population: 244,769 Employees: 2,943 Annual payroll: $170,042,328 Average salary: $61,006 Back to map -
ORLANDO
Residents per employee 85 Population: 238,300 Employees: 2,799 Annual payroll: $169,484,436 Average salary: $60,697 Back to map -
SAN ANTONIO
Residents per employee 86 Population: 1,327,407 Employees: 15,280 Annual payroll: $796,107,408 Average salary: $52,835 Back to map -
JACKSONVILLE
Residents per employee 87 Population: 821,784 Employees: 9,368 Annual payroll: $518,509,872 Average salary: $55,593 Back to map -
LOUISVILLE-JEFFERSON COUNTY
Residents per employee 87 Population: 741,096 Employees: 8,439 Annual payroll: $400,161,696 Average salary: $48,309 Back to map -
GREENSBORO
Residents per employee 87 Population: 269,666 Employees: 3,086 Annual payroll: $137,038,248 Average salary: $45,467 Back to map -
SCOTTSDALE
Residents per employee 87 Population: 217,385 Employees: 2,476 Annual payroll: $155,652,708 Average salary: $65,924 Back to map -
MILWAUKEE
Residents per employee 90 Population: 594,833 Employees: 6,542 Annual payroll: $399,847,008 Average salary: $61,729 Back to map -
SPOKANE
Residents per employee 91 Population: 208,916 Employees: 2,286 Annual payroll: $153,561,948 Average salary: $69,750 Back to map -
OAKLAND
Residents per employee 92 Population: 390,724 Employees: 4,228 Annual payroll: $375,334,392 Average salary: $98,705 Back to map -
WINSTON-SALEM
Residents per employee 92 Population: 229,617 Employees: 2,486 Annual payroll: $100,539,168 Average salary: $41,905 Back to map -
PITTSBURGH
Residents per employee 94 Population: 305,704 Employees: 3,251 Annual payroll: $183,233,388 Average salary: $57,387 Back to map -
HOUSTON
Residents per employee 95 Population: 2,099,451 Employees: 22,059 Annual payroll: $1,140,951,912 Average salary: $51,786 Back to map -
ST PAUL
Residents per employee 96 Population: 285,068 Employees: 2,959 Annual payroll: $197,583,036 Average salary: $70,108 Back to map -
DURHAM
Residents per employee 96 Population: 228,330 Employees: 2,378 Annual payroll: $112,143,168 Average salary: $48,988 Back to map -
LINCOLN
Residents per employee 98 Population: 258,379 Employees: 2,612 Annual payroll: $157,254,120 Average salary: $62,528 Back to map -
COLUMBUS
Residents per employee 99 Population: 787,033 Employees: 7,945 Annual payroll: $503,920,356 Average salary: $64,280 Back to map -
LAREDO
Residents per employee 99 Population: 236,091 Employees: 2,375 Annual payroll: $116,091,072 Average salary: $48,988 Back to map -
MIAMI
Residents per employee 101 Population: 399,457 Employees: 3,923 Annual payroll: $239,597,040 Average salary: $62,217 Back to map -
TULSA
Residents per employee 101 Population: 391,906 Employees: 3,856 Annual payroll: $217,373,424 Average salary: $56,632 Back to map -
DES MOINES
Residents per employee 101 Population: 203,433 Employees: 2,011 Annual payroll: $122,120,820 Average salary: $62,298 Back to map -
HONOLULU
Residents per employee 102 Population: 953,207 Employees: 9,281 Annual payroll: $554,356,008 Average salary: $60,572 Back to map -
PORTLAND
Residents per employee 102 Population: 583,776 Employees: 5,680 Annual payroll: $419,504,328 Average salary: $76,186 Back to map -
FAYETTEVILLE
Residents per employee 102 Population: 200,564 Employees: 1,962 Annual payroll: $90,331,896 Average salary: $46,362 Back to map -
PHOENIX
Residents per employee 103 Population: 1,445,632 Employees: 13,924 Annual payroll: $941,073,264 Average salary: $68,685 Back to map -
CHARLOTTE
Residents per employee 103 Population: 731,424 Employees: 7,075 Annual payroll: $393,563,064 Average salary: $56,793 Back to map -
RALEIGH
Residents per employee 104 Population: 403,892 Employees: 3,855 Annual payroll: $187,869,924 Average salary: $50,506 Back to map -
TUCSON
Residents per employee 105 Population: 520,116 Employees: 4,941 Annual payroll: $272,491,392 Average salary: $56,664 Back to map -
ANCHORAGE
Residents per employee 107 Population: 291,826 Employees: 2,711 Annual payroll: $221,606,988 Average salary: $82,605 Back to map -
EL PASO
Residents per employee 108 Population: 649,121 Employees: 5,990 Annual payroll: $284,580,360 Average salary: $48,155 Back to map -
SACRAMENTO
Residents per employee 110 Population: 466,488 Employees: 4,210 Annual payroll: $316,070,400 Average salary: $78,823 Back to map -
CORPUS CHRISTI
Residents per employee 111 Population: 305,215 Employees: 2,731 Annual payroll: $127,412,628 Average salary: $47,201 Back to map -
PLANO
Residents per employee 111 Population: 259,841 Employees: 2,325 Annual payroll: $125,333,880 Average salary: $55,789 Back to map -
LUBBOCK
Residents per employee 111 Population: 229,573 Employees: 2,061 Annual payroll: $105,823,020 Average salary: $52,161 Back to map -
FORT WORTH
Residents per employee 116 Population: 741,206 Employees: 6,386 Annual payroll: $384,494,976 Average salary: $61,492 Back to map -
HENDERSON
Residents per employee 116 Population: 257,729 Employees: 2,218 Annual payroll: $162,553,056 Average salary: $84,549 Back to map -
IRVING
Residents per employee 119 Population: 216,290 Employees: 1,814 Annual payroll: $96,686,304 Average salary: $53,491 Back to map -
MESA
Residents per employee 120 Population: 439,041 Employees: 3,657 Annual payroll: $246,420,648 Average salary: $68,086 Back to map -
WICHITA
Residents per employee 120 Population: 382,368 Employees: 3,165 Annual payroll: $139,741,584 Average salary: $44,364 Back to map -
GLENDALE
Residents per employee 122 Population: 226,721 Employees: 1,846 Annual payroll: $105,543,180 Average salary: $57,527 Back to map -
AURORA
Residents per employee 125 Population: 325,078 Employees: 2,595 Annual payroll: $168,310,392 Average salary: $65,168 Back to map -
BOISE
Residents per employee 127 Population: 205,671 Employees: 1,616 Annual payroll: $88,900,644 Average salary: $57,760 Back to map -
FORT WAYNE
Residents per employee 128 Population: 253,691 Employees: 1,968 Annual payroll: $103,642,020 Average salary: $53,757 Back to map -
TOLEDO
Residents per employee 131 Population: 287,208 Employees: 2,176 Annual payroll: $122,330,088 Average salary: $56,174 Back to map -
OKLAHOMA CITY
Residents per employee 134 Population: 579,999 Employees: 4,307 Annual payroll: $263,404,176 Average salary: $62,632 Back to map -
FRESNO
Residents per employee 134 Population: 494,665 Employees: 3,666 Annual payroll: $240,205,392 Average salary: $67,341 Back to map -
ANAHEIM
Residents per employee 134 Population: 336,265 Employees: 2,507 Annual payroll: $198,163,080 Average salary: $91,351 Back to map -
HIALEAH
Residents per employee 135 Population: 224,669 Employees: 1,658 Annual payroll: $89,348,052 Average salary: $59,193 Back to map -
SAN DIEGO
Residents per employee 137 Population: 1,307,402 Employees: 9,501 Annual payroll: $733,740,216 Average salary: $78,759 Back to map -
RIVERSIDE
Residents per employee 137 Population: 303,871 Employees: 2,217 Annual payroll: $172,106,688 Average salary: $82,233 Back to map -
NORTH LAS VEGAS
Residents per employee 138 Population: 216,961 Employees: 1,565 Annual payroll: $124,909,584 Average salary: $84,923 Back to map -
SAN BERNARDINO
Residents per employee 138 Population: 209,924 Employees: 1,514 Annual payroll: $109,000,392 Average salary: $76,463 Back to map -
OMAHA
Residents per employee 144 Population: 408,958 Employees: 2,834 Annual payroll: $174,635,364 Average salary: $65,248 Back to map -
ARLINGTON
Residents per employee 145 Population: 365,438 Employees: 2,512 Annual payroll: $146,719,644 Average salary: $60,252 Back to map -
CHANDLER
Residents per employee 145 Population: 236,123 Employees: 1,628 Annual payroll: $110,387,592 Average salary: $69,670 Back to map -
GARLAND
Residents per employee 151 Population: 226,876 Employees: 1,495 Annual payroll: $123,097,884 Average salary: $82,251 Back to map -
SAN JOSE
Residents per employee 159 Population: 945,942 Employees: 5,929 Annual payroll: $560,249,784 Average salary: $99,774 Back to map -
MODESTO
Residents per employee 166 Population: 201,165 Employees: 1,206 Annual payroll: $77,639,928 Average salary: $67,535 Back to map -
RENO
Residents per employee 183 Population: 225,221 Employees: 1,230 Annual payroll: $102,023,352 Average salary: $88,758 Back to map -
STOCKTON
Residents per employee 184 Population: 291,707 Employees: 1,579 Annual payroll: $119,034,384 Average salary: $79,927 Back to map -
GILBERT
Residents per employee 187 Population: 208,453 Employees: 1,112 Annual payroll: $66,440,136 Average salary: $60,892 Back to map -
SANTA ANA
Residents per employee 205 Population: 324,528 Employees: 1,578 Annual payroll: $146,751,120 Average salary: $99,070 Back to map -
CHULA VISTA
Residents per employee 219 Population: 243,916 Employees: 1,112 Annual payroll: $86,037,216 Average salary: $79,618 Back to map -
LAS VEGAS
Residents per employee 225 Population: 583,756 Employees: 2,594 Annual payroll: $214,499,880 Average salary: $88,113 Back to map -
IRVINE
Residents per employee 233 Population: 212,375 Employees: 909 Annual payroll: $73,011,048 Average salary: $91,705 Back to map -
FREMONT
Residents per employee 241 Population: 214,089 Employees: 887 Annual payroll: $91,125,960 Average salary: $108,076 Back to map -
BAKERSFIELD
Residents per employee 246 Population: 347,483 Employees: 1,410 Annual payroll: $98,569,512 Average salary: $70,840 Back to map