Recent studies comparing public- and private-sector pay are contradictory, with some concluding that federal workers earn more than their private-sector counterparts and others claiming they earn less money. The latest report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that highly educated federal employees are underpaid relative to their counterparts in the private sector, and that federal employees with less education tend to be overcompensated. But what do federal employees themselves think about their pay and how does pay affect their job satisfaction?

The Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte set out to understand these questions as part of its Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® analysis, which is based on data from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.