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BUSINESS

Do Government Workers Really Need a Raise?

Congress is considering a huge pay increase for federal employees, but a plurality of Americans think government workers are already better off than employees in the private sector.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 45% of American Adults believe the average government worker earns more annually than the average private sector worker. That’s almost identical to last September’s survey, but the number has ranged as high as 58% in surveys since 2010. Twenty-eight percent (28%) now don’t think government employees are paid more than private sector workers, and another 27% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it’s in the news, it’s in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. American Adults was conducted on May 29-30, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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