I earn more money as a Fed than I did at the state, but I also lived in Richmond so COL was less. Better benefits at state. Also, I am a term now, so less job security.

You expect the layers of bureaucracy to be 10x worse at Fed, but it's really 10,000x worse.

If considering making a career combining State and Fed service, research reciprocity re: years of service for pension consideration.

I've worked for both. I had better benefits when I was with the State (e.g. free health insurance) but, in most cases, Federal pay is better. Of course, I left State gov't in the mid-90s so the benefits thing may have changed since then. I also know more state employees who have had to deal with RIFS/furloughs than I do Feds who have endured the same. IMO, Federal positions are more secure (although some agencies are more vulnerable than others).

With that said, there's wide variation across states in terms of how they compensate their employees, so it's difficult to generalize. It's pretty much a lock that you would earn more in MD, for example, than in states like WV, MS or NM.

In this area, Feds make the most. Followed by county, and then by state, generally. Benefits are relatively similar.

I have worked at state and local, and my husband and many former colleagues are Feds. In my opinion, the larger the government, the smaller your role and range of influence. I'm at county now and love it.

Biggest differences in working for state government vs. federal?