December 16, 2009 1:21PM # Perceptions of Government Pay By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) --- SHARE [A new poll by Rasmussen finds](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/jobs_employment/december_2009/59_say_average_government_worker_earns_more_than_average_taxpayer) that the general public has an accurate assessment of government worker pay. > **Compared to the average government worker, most Americans think they work harder, have less job security and make less money.** > > > In fact, **59% of Americans say the average government worker earns more annually than the average taxpayer**, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 15% don’t believe that to be true, while another 26% are not sure. > > > Among those who have close friends or relatives who work for the government, the belief is even stronger: 61% say the average government worker earns more than the average taxpayer. > > > Feeding that belief is the finding that 51% of all adults think government workers are paid too much. **Only 10% say they are paid too little**, while 27% say their pay is about right. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indeed shows that government workers work fewer hours in a year and have much higher job security than private sector workers. And I’ve argued that they are generally overpaid, and by increasing amounts. For more, check out: - [Federal Salaries Explode](https://www.cato.org/2009/12/11/federal-salaries-explode/) - [Federal Pay Continues Rapid Ascent](../2009/08/24/federal-pay-continues-rapid-ascent/) - [Federal Pay: Response to the Critics](../2009/08/26/federal-pay-response-to-the-critics/) - [Wall Street, Big Oil, and Federal Workers](../2009/08/31/wall-street-big-oil-and-federal-workers/) ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).