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See where federal workers live in the U.S.

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Updated November 13, 2023 at 2:21 p.m. EST|Published September 27, 2023 at 10:15 a.m. EDT
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Only 15 percent of the 2.19 million civilian full-time federal employees in the United States work in the Washington metro area, which includes Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and even a touch of West Virginia. The other 85 percent work elsewhere around the country.

Data provided by the Office of Personnel Management shows the number of federal workers in over 900 metropolitan and micropolitan areas as of March 2023, not including contractors, the Postal Service or intelligence workers. Federal workers earn an average of almost $100,000 per year.

A federal government shutdown looks more and more likely: What to know

If the government shuts down after the Saturday deadline, federal workers would stop receiving paychecks and most would not have to report to their jobs until the shutdown ends.

Although the Washington area has the highest number of federal workers, they only make up 9 percent of the local working population. Government employees make up larger shares of the workforce in many other areas, often near military bases. Federal employees are 17 percent of the workforce near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Southern Maryland. Likewise, federal civilian workers are 16 percent of the workforce in Warner Robins, Ga., near the Robins Air Force Base, and 15 percent of the workforce in the Bremerton-Silverdale, Wash. metropolitan area near a naval base.

The last government shutdown in December 2018 was also the longest government shutdown, lasting 34 days. While federal workers were not paid during the shutdown, they were paid retroactively after it ended.

Government shutdown: What to know

The latest: The Senate approved a $1.2 trillion spending bill in the wee hours of Saturday morning to prevent a brief partial government shutdown, sending the bill to President Biden to sign into law. See how every Senate and House member voted.

What would be affected in a shutdown? The funding that was set to expire on March 22 covers agencies that represent roughly 70 percent of the federal government. If the partial government shutdown lasted past the weekend it would affect a wide range of crucial federal services and thousands of employees. When funding lapses, many government workers are furloughed until their agencies reopen. Certain federal workers — mostly those involved in national security or vital economic activity — continue working unpaid.

History of shutdowns: Which president had the most shutdowns? Here’s a look at the shortest and longest government shutdowns in U.S. history.