Federal Workforce Briefing #1 2.27.25
Almost 40% of civilians employed within Virginia by the federal government work in just three counties, Weldon Cooper Center analysis shows. These numbers are derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) for 2023. This source records federal civilian employees working for a federal agency or organization that is located within Virginia, including Virginia residents, in-commuters, and remote workers—although it excludes active-duty military. The QCEW data also categorizes employment by industry and geography.
Data Derivation
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 5-Year Data is based on self-reported information from Virginia residents who reported working for the federal government in any location. One ACS table captures a more comprehensive number of federal employees living in Virginia—including both active-duty military and civilian workers—with a total of 475,713 individuals reported, 82,825 of whom report as working remotely. Another ACS table focuses exclusively on federal civilian employees living in Virginia and reports a figure of 321,516.
Commuting data derived from the ACS Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) can give some additional insight into where these Virginians are located during their working hours. Data from 2023 reveals that over 60,000 federal civilian workers commute from Virginia to Washington, DC, while an additional 10,000-plus travel from Virginia to Maryland.
Department of Defense figures, as of June 2024, outline the military’s presence in the Commonwealth, reporting 121,687 active-duty armed forces members and about 102,000 civilian employees assigned to support military functions. These numbers reflect the available unclassified data on personnel assigned to specific duty locations within Virginia. Most of the civilian employees listed by the DOD should be accounted for in the prior estimations.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) for 2023 offers another perspective by relying on data reported by federal establishments within the Commonwealth. This source records 189,000 federal civilian employees working for a federal agency or organization that is located within Virginia. The figure includes Virginia residents, in-commuters, and remote workers—although it excludes active-duty military. The QCEW data also categorizes employment by industry and geography. Analysis reveals that nearly 40% of federal civilian jobs within Virginia are in national security, and that federal civilian employment is most heavily concentrated in the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads regions.
Additional insights are available from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which, as of September 2024, reported 147,538 federal jobs in Virginia. Among these positions, 11,809 were held by employees with less than one year of service – notable due to the administration’s recent plan to eliminate probationary federal employees. OPM’s approach counts federal civilian employees at their official work sites as of March 2024 and excludes several agencies such as the U.S. Postal Service, DEA, FBI, and most branches of the legislative and judicial sectors.
Historical data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in 2022 also noted 206,269 federal civilian employees alongside 119,212 active-duty military personnel in Virginia. This series, which also included congressional staff and U.S. Postal Service employees, has since been discontinued but may still serve as a useful benchmark.