Table 26
Average Annual Pay, State & Local Government Workers, 1997
Rank	State	Amt.		Rank	State	Amt.
1	Alaska	$43,258		27	Indiana	$29,150
2	New Jersey	42,808		28	North Carolina	29,120
3	California	41,295		29	North Dakota	28,774
4	Connecticut	41,253		30	Maine	28,695
5	NEW YORK	$40,426		31	Vermont	28,518
6	Michigan	37,697		32	Texas	28,151
7	Rhode Island	37,472		33	Nebraska	27,985
8	Washington	36,683		34	Kansas	27,932
9	Nevada	36,509		35	South Carolina	27,709
10	Maryland	36,125		36	Georgia	27,587
11	Massachusetts	36,070		37	Missouri	27,471
12	Illinois	35,768		38	Kentucky	27,274
13	Pennsylvania	35,125		39	West Virginia	27,109
14	Wisconsin	34,848		40	Tennessee	27,040
15	Minnesota	34,597		41	Montana	26,964
16	Colorado	33,967		42	Wyoming	26,820
17	Oregon	33,750		43	Idaho	26,600
18	Hawaii	33,231		44	New Mexico	26,533
19	Ohio	32,815		45	Alabama	26,403
20	Delaware	32,625		46	South Dakota	26,125
21	New Hampshire	30,654		47	Louisiana	26,077
22	Arizona	30,610		48	Arkansas	24,850
23	Florida	30,458		49	Oklahoma	24,306
24	Iowa	30,310		50	Mississippi	23,599
25	Virginia	30,235		U.S. average		$33,273
26	Utah	29,328		N.Y.S. % above avg.		21.5%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau data; calculations by The Public Policy Institute
Average annual pay for government workers in New York is about 10% higher than that of private-sector workers.