State of the Federal Workforce 2026: 50 Statistics

The federal civilian workforce dropped to 2,028,138 in February 2026. That is the lowest headcount since around 1966, back when the United States had roughly 70% fewer people. In the first 13 months of the second Trump administration the executive branch lost more than 271,000 positions, spent an estimated $71 billion on the workforce actions that caused those losses, and watched the OPM retirement backlog hit a record 65,237 claims while its own staff was being cut.

This is the FedTools State of the Federal Workforce 2026 data report. Every statistic below is sourced. If you are a journalist, blogger, or federal employee looking for the authoritative 2025–2026 numbers, you can cite this page directly.

Key Takeaways

• Federal workforce in February 2026: 2,028,138 (OPM, data.opm.gov), the lowest count since approximately 1966.
• Net loss since January 20, 2025: 271,825 employees, an 11.8% contraction over 13 months.
• Cost of the contraction: $71 billion estimated, which includes $4.5 billion for the Deferred Resignation Program alone.
• OPM retirement backlog peaked at 65,237 in February 2026, the highest on record. Only 57% of FY2026 applications received have been processed so far.
• Federal employee morale: "thriving" rate fell from 58% to 48% in one year (Gallup). Engagement score sits at 32 out of 100 (Partnership for Public Service).
• Pay gap vs. private sector: 24.72%. FEPCA has never been fully implemented in 31 years.
• Rehiring has already begun at CDC, FDA, and other agencies, with 25,000+ probationary firings reversed by courts.

Top 10 Federal Workforce Statistics 2026

Each of these is pre-formatted for press pitches, Reddit citations, and AI Overviews. Sources are linked in the Sources section.

1. The federal civilian workforce stood at 2,028,138 in February 2026, the lowest headcount since roughly 1966. (OPM Federal Workforce Data)
2. In 2025, 348,219 federal employees departed, an 80.8% surge over 2024, while only 116,912 were hired (a 55.6% collapse in new hiring). (Pew Research, March 2026)
3. USAID lost 92.4% of its workforce in 2025, dropping from 4,895 employees to 370. (Pew Research)
4. The Deferred Resignation Program cost approximately $4.5 billion in salary and benefits for roughly 137,000 takers. Cumulative workforce-action costs are estimated at $71 billion. (Partnership for Public Service, April 2026)
5. The OPM retirement backlog hit a record 65,237 claims in February 2026, up 88% from October 2025. FY2026 throughput: 60,606 claims processed against 107,074 received (57%). (OPM, FedSmith, FedWeek)
6. Federal employees classified as "thriving" fell from 58% in 2024 to 48% in 2025. The "struggling" share rose from 37% to 47%. (Gallup, Q4 2025)
7. The MSPB received 11,000+ appeals in FY2025, roughly double its historical annual pace. Its own staffing fell to a projected 171 FTE, the lowest since 2018. (MSPB FY2026 Budget Justification; NARFE)
8. Federal employees earn 24.72% less than comparable private-sector workers on base pay. FEPCA, the 1994 law designed to close that gap to 5%, has never been fully implemented in 31 years. (Federal Salary Council, 2024)
9. Federal telework plunged: 31.3% of feds teleworked in April 2024 versus 18.2% in April 2025, following the January 20, 2025 return-to-office order. Average weekly telework hours fell from 8.2 to 4.8. (BLS, 2025)
10. The r/fednews subreddit grew from 144,000 members on January 24, 2025 to 359,000, a 149% jump. That is the largest federal-employee information surge ever recorded on a social platform. (Newsweek, 2025)

Methodology

This report aggregates federal workforce data from primary government sources (OPM, BLS, GAO, MSPB, Federal Salary Council), independent research institutions (Pew Research, Partnership for Public Service, Gallup), and federal-beat reporting (Federal News Network, FedSmith, FedWeek, GovExec).

Three ground rules apply across every section:

1. Every number has a source URL. If a stat lacked a verifiable primary or secondary citation at research time, we labeled it "needs verification" rather than publishing it. Flagged items appear in the Data Limitations note below.
2. We distinguish OPM counts from BLS counts. OPM Federal Workforce Data covers executive branch civilian employees (~2.03 million in Feb 2026). BLS Current Employment Statistics covers a broader category that includes USPS (~2.68 million). Both are "correct"; they measure different things. Where we cite a single headline number, we use the OPM figure unless noted.
3. Original FedTools calculations are labeled. Where we computed something (for example, the 57% FY2026 retirement-throughput rate derived from OPM's 60,606 processed against 107,074 received), we tag it as a FedTools 2026 analysis.

Data limitations. Three categories of data are flagged because primary sources were unavailable at research date:

• GS grade distribution by cluster (GS 1-6, 7-10, etc.) requires direct FedScope queries at fedscope.opm.gov.
• State-level federal-employee headcount for Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Ohio. Most publicly released state breakdowns are vintage September 2024.
• MSPB outcome rates (percentage of appeals decided in the employee's favor) will not be available until the FY2025 Annual Report publishes.

Federal Workforce Headcount 2026: From 2.3 Million to 2.03 Million

The February 2026 OPM number of 2,028,138 is the lowest executive branch civilian count in roughly 60 years.

Source: OPM Federal Workforce Data (data.opm.gov); Pew Research Center, March 2026.

Historical context

Pulling the lens back further shows how unusual the 2026 trough is.

Source: OPM Historical Tables (Executive Branch Civilian Employment Since 1940); Pew Research March 2026.

Agencies with the steepest cuts (2025)

Source: Pew Research Center, March 2026. Absolute headcounts for most agencies were not released alongside the percentage cuts; the agency identifiers and percentages are from Pew's published chart.

Three agencies (DoD civilian, Treasury, and USDA) accounted for over half of total federal workforce losses in 2025 (Federal News Network, September 2025).

RIF Activity 2025-2026: Most Cuts Were Voluntary

Despite the political framing, formal RIFs were a small fraction of the 2025 contraction. More than 92.5% of 2025 departures were voluntary via the DRP, VERA/VSIP, or straight resignation (Federal News Network, January 2026). Formal RIF separations totaled fewer than 10,400 workers, which is less than 4% of total losses.

Probationary terminations were a separate track: roughly 24,000 to 25,000 employees were fired in mid-February 2025 in what courts later found to be an improper mass termination. At least 25,000 of those firings were reversed by court order (Federal News Network, March 2025).

Agency actions table

Sources: Consumer Finance Monitor April 2026; Pew Research March 2026; Federal News Network March 2025 (CDC); GovExec May 2025 (Interior/NPS); Time April 2026 (TSA budget); GAO-26-108719.

A continuing resolution enacted November 12, 2025 temporarily halted new RIFs through January 30, 2026 (Federal News Network). Agencies whose RIF plans were still in motion at that date paused until the freeze lifted. If you are working through a RIF decision right now, our severance calculator models your payout under the current 5 U.S.C. 5595 rules.

VERA, VSIP, and the $40,000 DoD Exception

VSIP authority caps payments at $25,000 for most agencies, but DoD agencies (Navy, Army, Air Force civilians) have special authority to offer up to $40,000. That distinction is easy to miss and worth tens of thousands of dollars to anyone weighing a buyout.

Sources: GovExec March 2025 (Interior); FNN March 2026 (Army); MyFEDBenefits; FEBA Benefits April 2026; OPM VSIP policy page.

Proposed legislation would raise the VSIP ceiling to 6 months of base salary (FedSmith, February 2026). It has not been enacted. If you are evaluating a buyout, our VERA/VSIP decision calculator runs the breakeven math against your projected pension and FEHB coverage.

The Deferred Resignation Program: $4.5 Billion to Pay People Not to Work

The Partnership for Public Service estimates the DRP cost taxpayers $4.5 billion in salary and benefits paid to roughly 137,000 employees who resigned in exchange for continued pay through a defined leave period.

Source: Federal News Network, April 2026; Partnership for Public Service analysis; GAO-26-108719.

The full $71 billion picture

The DRP's $4.5 billion is only one line in a much larger tally. Partnership for Public Service estimates total federal workforce action costs at approximately $71 billion, including:

Source: Partnership for Public Service, April 2026, cited in MeriTalk/CDW.

The report's authors called $71 billion a "conservative estimate." They included measurable payouts but flagged that productivity loss, institutional-knowledge loss, and contract costs tied to workforce churn are not fully quantifiable.

OPM Retirement Backlog: A Record 65,237 Claims

The retirement claims backlog is the clearest operational signal that workforce-reduction policy outran OPM's capacity to absorb it.

Sources: FedSmith February 2026; OPM retirement processing status PDF; FedWeek March 2026.

FY2026 throughput data tells the same story in ratio form:

• 107,074 retirement applications received by OPM through FY2026 year-to-date.
• 60,606 processed.
• 57% throughput, leaving 46,468 applications unresolved in the current fiscal year alone.

Source: OPM; FedWeek. Ratio is a FedTools 2026 analysis derived from published OPM figures.

Processing time breakdown

The 6-to-9-month total includes an average 120-day pipeline before OPM receives the application: ~60 days of agency HR processing plus ~51 days of payroll. OPM has been pressed by Congress about whether its own DOGE-era staff cuts have compromised retirement processing capacity; no definitive public answer has been provided (FedWeek).

If you are planning a separation date, our FERS retirement calculator models the annuity side of the equation. The gap month between separation and first full check is real, and we cover how to survive it here.

MSPB: 2,178 Appeals in One Week, Down to 171 Staff

The Merit Systems Protection Board is the neutral arbiter federal employees turn to when they are fired, demoted, or subjected to prohibited personnel actions. Its 2025 caseload was unprecedented.

Sources: NARFE March 2025; MSPB FY2026 Congressional Budget Justification.

At the same time, MSPB staffing is falling:

Source: MSPB FY2026 Budget Justification.

Key rulings through early 2026

• Class certifications granted for probationary employees fired around February 14, 2025 (DOI certified July 17, 2025; OPM-directed terminations certified December 2, 2025). Source: Federal Worker Rights.
• RIF class actions denied. MSPB declined to certify classes in RIF-related cases.
• Jurisdictional narrowing (2026): MSPB amended regulations to remove certain appeal rights for employees moved into excepted service positions without civil service protections (GovExec, March 2026).
• Immigration judge ruling: MSPB held that the attorney general has constitutional authority to fire immigration judges at will. That is a significant narrowing of protections for that cohort (GovExec, March 2026).

Outcome percentages (share of appeals decided in the employee's favor) for FY2025 are not yet publicly reported; they will appear in the MSPB FY2025 Annual Report when published.

Federal Workforce 2026 Morale: Engagement Collapse and the Telework Reversal

The morale data from the federal workforce in 2025 is stark.

Gallup wellbeing classification

Source: Gallup quarterly surveys (~19,000–23,000 respondents per quarter); GovExec, April 2026.

For the first time in Gallup's federal-employee tracking, federal workers match the general U.S. workforce on "thriving." They used to lead it by double digits.

Partnership for Public Service (Fed Engagement Index, 2026)

• Governmentwide engagement score: 32 out of 100.
• 58% of respondents said their engagement had dropped since 2024.
• Only 7% believe political leadership engenders high motivation.
• HHS, historically a top-3 large agency for engagement, fell to 3rd-last at 20.4 out of 100.
• All 30 agencies surveyed showed lower engagement than 2024.

Sources: GovExec March 2026; Federal News Network March 2026.

Telework and the return-to-office order

• Telework rate: 31.3% (April 2024) → 18.2% (April 2025). Source: BLS.
• Average weekly telework hours: 8.2 → 4.8. Source: BLS.
• OPM cancelled the 2025 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), a first in its history, citing the need to retool for anti-DEI executive order compliance. Source: FEDmanager.

The r/fednews subreddit went from 144,000 members on January 24, 2025 to 359,000 by year-end, a 149% jump (Newsweek). The immediate trigger was OPM's "Fork in the Road" DRP email on January 28, 2025, which added about 50,000 members in the first week alone.

Pay Gap and FEPCA: The Gap Hasn't Closed in 31 Years

Federal GS pay trails comparable private-sector jobs by 24.72% on base salary, per the Federal Salary Council's 2024 assessment. FEPCA, the 1994 law that was supposed to close that gap to 5%, has never been fully implemented in any of the 31 years it has been on the books (Federal News Network, November 2024).

Source: OPM; BLS Employment Cost Index; FedSmith.

Our dedicated State of Federal Pay 2026 report covers this in depth, including the 10-year accumulated FEPCA gap in dollars. If you want to see what your own pay should be under 2026 locality rates, our GS pay calculator runs the math for all 58 locality areas.

Rehiring: The Boomerang

By mid-2025, several agencies that had aggressively cut staff began rehiring to fill critical gaps. This is a double-cost pattern: taxpayers paid for DRP departures and for the rehired replacements.

• CDC: 722+ employees' firings rescinded across environmental health, infectious disease, and HIV/STD centers (200+ from the HIV/STD center alone; 158 from environmental health).
• FDA: Rehiring food/device reviewers, scientists, and communications staff (exact count not yet published).
• Multiple agencies: "Hundreds" brought back for operations or policy priorities (CNN, September 2025).

Sources: CNN June/September 2025; NPR October 2025; OPB October 2025.

Separately, federal courts ordered the reinstatement of more than 25,000 probationary employees who had been terminated on or around February 14, 2025. Judge Alsup's ruling covered DoD, Treasury, Energy, Agriculture, and VA; Judge Bredar's TRO covered 18 federal agencies. On September 12, 2025, a U.S. District Court found that OPM had "exceeded its authority" in directing the mass probationary firings and ordered personnel records updated (Federal News Network, March 2025; additional court filings through late 2025).

Frequently Asked Questions

How many federal employees are there in 2026? As of February 2026, the federal executive branch had 2,028,138 civilian employees, the lowest count since around 1966. Net loss since January 20, 2025 stands at approximately 271,825 positions. (OPM Federal Workforce Data, data.opm.gov)

How many federal employees lost their jobs in 2025? A net of about 238,000 positions were eliminated during 2025. Total departures reached 348,219, but more than 92% were voluntary through the Deferred Resignation Program, VERA/VSIP buyouts, or resignation. Formal RIFs affected fewer than 10,400 workers. (Pew Research; Federal News Network)

How much did the Deferred Resignation Program cost? Partnership for Public Service estimates $4.5 billion in salary and benefits paid to roughly 137,000 DRP takers. Total federal workforce action costs since January 2025 are estimated at $71 billion when you include severance, admin leave, rehiring, and productivity loss.

How long is OPM taking to process retirement claims in 2026? Total wait from separation to first full annuity check is 6 to 9 months. OPM processing alone averages 34 to 39 days for digital filings and 79 to 95 days for paper. The backlog peaked at 65,237 in February 2026 before declining to roughly 55,700 in March.

Are federal agencies rehiring after DOGE cuts? Yes. By mid-2025, CDC had rescinded firings for more than 722 employees; FDA and others were rehiring to fill operational gaps. Separately, federal courts ordered at least 25,000 probationary employees reinstated.

How much do federal employees earn compared to the private sector? Federal GS employees earn 24.72% less than comparable private-sector workers on base salary, per the Federal Salary Council's 2024 assessment. FEPCA, the 1994 pay-comparability law, has never been fully implemented.

Which federal agencies cut the most workers in 2025? By percentage: USAID lost 92.4% of its workforce (4,895 to 370), followed by Education (-42.6%), SBA (-32.9%), HUD (-28.8%), Treasury (-23.2%), USDA (-20.9%), and HHS (-19.2%). By absolute headcount: DoD (-61,600), Treasury (-31,600), and USDA (-21,600).

Cite This Report

@misc{fedtools2026workforce,
  author = {FedTools Research Team},
  title  = {State of the Federal Workforce 2026},
  year   = {2026},
  month  = {April},
  url    = {https://www.fedtools.com/blog/state-of-federal-workforce-2026}
}

Sources

1. OPM Federal Workforce Data (FWD): https://data.opm.gov/
2. OPM FedScope: https://www.fedscope.opm.gov/
3. Pew Research Center, "Federal workforce shrank 10% in Trump's first year back in office," March 13, 2026: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/03/13/federal-workforce-shrank-10-in-trumps-first-year-back-in-office/
4. Federal News Network, "The government paid $4.5 billion to feds who took the DRP," April 2026: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/04/the-government-paid-4-5-billion-to-feds-who-took-the-drp-one-estimate-shows/
5. Federal News Network, "How staffing cuts in 2025 transformed the federal workforce," January 2026: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/01/how-staffing-cuts-in-2025-transformed-the-federal-workforce/
6. GAO-26-108719, "Federal Agency Workforce Changes: Update for January to June 2025": https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108719
7. NARFE, "Merit Systems Protection Board Cases Skyrocket," March 10, 2025: https://www.narfe.org/blog/2025/03/10/merit-systems-protection-board-cases-skyrocket/
8. MSPB FY2026 Congressional Budget Justification: https://www.mspb.gov/about/budget/FY_2026_Congressional_Budget_Justification.pdf
9. GovExec, "Fewer federal employees are 'thriving' and more are 'struggling'," April 2026: https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2026/04/fewer-federal-employees-are-thriving-and-more-are-struggling-according-new-survey/412752/
10. BLS, "Telework rate down for federal government workers in April 2025": https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/telework-rate-down-for-federal-government-workers-in-april-2025.htm
11. Federal Salary Council, "Federal pay rates are falling nearly 25% short of private sector" (coverage in Federal News Network, November 2024): https://federalnewsnetwork.com/pay/2024/11/federal-pay-rates-are-falling-nearly-25-short-of-the-private-sector/
12. Consumer Finance Monitor, "CFPB Workforce Restructuring Plan," April 8, 2026: https://www.consumerfinancemonitor.com/2026/04/08/cfpb-workforce-restructuring-plan/
13. MeriTalk/CDW, "Federal Workforce Cuts Have Cost $71B": https://cdn.meritalk.com/articles/federal-workforce-cuts-have-cost-71b-new-data-tool-estimates/
14. Newsweek, "Subreddit for Federal Workers Explodes In Popularity": https://www.newsweek.com/reddit-fednews-popularity-donald-trump-federal-workers-2027592
15. OPM Retirement Processing Status: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/retirement-statistics/retirement-processing-status.pdf
16. FedSmith, "Retirement Surge Pushes OPM Retirement Backlog Over 54k In January," February 2026: https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/02/05/retirement-surge-pushes-opm-retirement-backlog-over-54k-in-january/

Related FedTools data reports:

• State of Federal Pay 2026
• State of Federal Retirement Readiness 2026

Related FedTools coverage:

• DRP Cost: The Government Paid $4.5 Billion to Feds Who Took the Buyout
• OPM Retirement Processing Times 2026
• RIF Survival Guide 2026
• Navy Civilian Reduction Guide 2026
• Federal Workforce Lowest Since 1960s

Questions or corrections? Email research@fedtools.com. This report will be refreshed annually; the next State of the Federal Workforce report is scheduled for April 2027.