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The state of Minnesota had just over 33,500 federal government jobs in 2024
11/19/2025 10:43:22 AM
Tim O'Neill
On Tuesday, November 12, the record 43-day federal government shutdown ended. While opinions, blogs, articles and other testimonials could pour over the politics surrounding the shutdown, there is no doubt that the shutdown had a profound impact on millions of Americans. This impact was experienced in countless ways, including financial stress for federal workers, delayed and canceled flights, the limitation and cessation of SNAP benefits, increased burden on local food banks, the closing of federal monuments and parks, and the delay or closing of other federal projects and services.
Of course, one of the main consequences of the federal government shutdown was the impact on federal government workers themselves. While many essential services were kept in place, the stress on Minnesota's and the Twin Cities Metro Area's federal government workforce increased throughout those 43 days. Let's take a closer look at the extent of federal government employment in Minnesota and the Metro Area.
According to /deed/data/current-econ-highlights/qcew-econ-highlights.jspQuarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data, the state of Minnesota had just over 33,500 federal government jobs in 2024. As such, just over 1% of the state's total employment is federal government employment. To put this into some perspective, about 3% of the state's total employment is state government employment, about 9% is local government employment and the remaining 87% is private sector employment.
Just about three-in-five (59.1%) of the state's federal government jobs are located in the Seven-County Twin Cities Metro Area. Spread out among 260 establishments, the total payroll for federal workers in the region equaled just over $2 billion, with the average annual wage equal to $101,088. Like in the private sector, workers in the Metro Area make more than their counterparts in Greater Minnesota. Zooming in a bit more, about two-thirds (66.0%) of the Metro Area's federal government employment was in Hennepin County, with significant shares also in Dakota County and Ramsey County. In fact, making up nearly 2% of its respective total employment, Dakota County has the highest concentration of federal government workers in the Metro Area (Table 1).
| Table 1. Minnesota Federal Government Employment Statistics, 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Number
of Jobs |
Share of
Total Jobs |
Number of Establishments | Total Payroll ($1,000s) | Avg. Annual Wage |
| Minnesota | 33,502 | 1.1% | 1,298 | $3,180,785 | $94,900 |
| Seven County Metro Area | 19,811 | 1.1% | 260 | $2,002,635 | $101,088 |
| Central Minnesota | 3,715 | 1.3% | 172 | $318,890 | $85,800 |
| Northwest Minnesota | 2,832 | 1.2% | 298 | $220,056 | $77,688 |
| Northeast Minnesota | 1,870 | 1.3% | 137 | $157,165 | $83,980 |
| Southeast Minnesota | 1,746 | 0.7% | 144 | $146,808 | $84,084 |
| Southwest Minnesota | 1,523 | 0.9% | 218 | $110,403 | $72,488 |
| Hennepin County | 13,082 | 1.4% | 115 | $1,363,690 | $104,208 |
| Dakota County | 3,210 | 1.7% | 33 | $309,494 | $96,408 |
| Ramsey County | 2,393 | 0.7% | 52 | $237,497 | $99,216 |
| Washington County | 415 | 0.4% | 21 | $33,119 | $79,924 |
| Anoka County | 365 | 0.3% | 16 | $28,527 | $78,260 |
| Carver County | 215 | 0.5% | 16 | $19,865 | $92,456 |
| Scott County | 130 | 0.2% | 8 | $10,443 | $80,548 |
| Source: DEED Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages | |||||
To get a better idea of what these federal government jobs are, let's look at industry employment. In the Metro Area, nearly 8,000 federal government jobs are designated in Transportation & Warehousing. Making up about 90% of these jobs? The postal service. Coming in second is Public Administration, which accounted for nearly 7,000 federal government jobs in the region. Rounding out the top three major industries, Health Care & Social Assistance accounted for nearly 4,300 federal government jobs in the region. All these jobs were designated in Hospitals. Altogether, Transportation & Warehousing, Public Administration and Health Care & Social Assistance accounted for the vast majority (96.9%) of the Metro Area's total federal government employment in 2024 (Table 2).
| Table 2. Metro Area Federal Government Industry Statistics, 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area | Number of Jobs | Share of Federal Gov't Jobs | Number of Firms | Total Payroll ($1,000s) | Avg. Annual Wage |
| Total, All Industries | 19,811 | 100.0% | 260 | $2,002,635 | $101,088 |
| Transportation & Warehousing | 7,959 | 40.2% | 137 | $700,682 | $88,036 |
| Public Administration | 6,985 | 35.3% | 102 | $739,678 | $105,872 |
| Health Care & Social Assistance | 4,258 | 21.5% | 4 | $496,315 | $116,532 |
| Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services | 363 | 1.8% | 4 | $38,443 | $105,976 |
| Finance & Insurance | 142 | 0.7% | 9 | $19,848 | $140,088 |
| Other Services | 51 | 0.3% | 1 | $4,026 | $79,456 |
| Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation | 48 | 0.2% | 2 | $3,502 | $72,800 |
| Accommodation & Food Services | 4 | 0.0% | 2 | $141 | $35,724 |
| Source: DEED Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages | |||||
To discover more about the Twin Cities Metro Area, contact Tim O'Neill, Labor Market Analyst, at Timothy.ONeill@state.mn.us.
