In Thomas' analysis, teachers and other public-school employees are counted as government workers, but not military personnel.Of all 100 metro areas analyzed by Thomas, Sacramento, California's capital, ranks highest in its percentage of government workers, 28.82 percent, followed by Bakersfield, Calif. (25.21 percent) and Madison, Wis. (24.04 percent). Washington, D.C., ranks 10th (22.51 percent).At the other extreme are Grand Rapids, Mich. (8.99 percent government jobs), Pittsburgh (10.4 percent) and San Jose, Calif. (10.66 percent).
We'd expect Madison and DC to do well. Pittsburgh is a real surprise. I should note that there are more than a few state capitals in the bottom 20% for percentage of government workers. I mainly bring this up because more than a few people have linked Pittsburgh prosperity with government largess. Considering all the disadvantages, Pittsburgh has done remarkably well.
4 comments:
There are 94 MSAs with 500,000 people or more. Indianapolis is 65th in terms of the percentage of government workers. Nashville is 64, MSP is 69, and Des Moines is 78. Denver is 58.
Clearly not all prosperous state capitals got that way through excess government jobs.
Duly noted:
I should note that there are more than a few state capitals in the bottom 20% for percentage of government workers.
There are other advantages to consider, such as built-in network migration. Nonetheless, the variance is interesting.
Well so much for Pittsburgh being a stable economy because of "all those government workers." I wonder how the Kotkins and Steigerwalds of the blogosphere will spin it next?
Apparently, I'm not the only one who remembered the slights.
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