The Eternal Debate: Are Feds Overpaid?

Here we go again with the reports that federal employees are overpaid. The Asbury Park Press has crunched the numbers, and declares that feds, on average, are paid almost 50 percent more than private-sector employees -- $59,864 vs. $40,505, according to 2005 data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Almost a year ago, you'll remember, Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute published an analysis showing that when benefits are factored in, feds make double what private workers do.

My initial reaction is always to be highly skeptical of these kinds of comparisons because of the apples-to-oranges issue. After all, it shouldn't surprise anybody that the average federal employee, who's likely to be a white-collar professional, is paid more than the average private sector worker, who could be serving up lattes at Starbucks.

The Asbury Park Press insists that "Where job titles could be compared be it for engineers, doctors or food service workers the federal government still paid better than the private sector in three out of four cases." But that "where job titles could be compared" bit is a rather large loophole. What exactly are the titles? And what's in that fourth case?

Anyway, the most interesting part of the Asbury Park Press is its database of federal salary information, in which you can find a list of employees by locality and what they make, or search by individual name to find out his or her salary.