A bar chart showing federal employment by metro area in 2022 including Washington, DC; Huntsville, Alabama; And Virginia Beach, Virginia had the largest share of federal employees. In contrast, Modesto, California; Cape Coral, Florida; and Port St. Lucie, Florida had the lowest. In Austin, 1.7% of employees work for the federal government.

Federal Employment by Metro Area (2022)

DC – 13.9%

Huntsville, Ala. – 9.3%

Virginia Beach, Va. – 9.2%

Honolulu, Hawaii – 8.9%

Baltimore – 8.8%…

Austin, Texas – 1.7%…

Baton Rouge, LA – 1.1%

Allentown, Pa. – 1.0%

Modesto, California – 1.0%

Cape Coral, Fla. – 1.0%

Port St. Lucie, Fla. – 1.0%

Data: US Census Bureau; Chart: Alice Fang/Oxios

Cities across America, including Austin, may soon experience job cuts by a major employer – the federal government.

Why it matters

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, tapped by President-elect Trump to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have vowed to cut what they see as wasteful spending.

“We expect a massive decline,” Ramaswamy said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” on Nov. 17. “Some agencies may be eliminated altogether. We foresee massive cuts among federal contractors and others that are overbilling the federal government.” Last year, Ramaswamy promised to fire 50 percent of “federal bureaucrats” if elected president.

By numbers

In 2022, about 1.7% of workers in the Austin area were federal employees — about 23,126 out of 1,357,836 workers, according to the latest Census Bureau data. In Austin, they include IRS employees, air traffic controllers, Social Security workers, postal workers, and judges. Federal employees make up the largest segment of the workforce in Washington, DC (13.9%), followed by Huntsville, Alabama (9.3%) and Virginia Beach, Virginia (9.2%). Cities with large military installations, such as San Antonio (4.5%) and El Paso (6%), also have a significant share of federal employees.

Follow the money

According to ZipRecruiter, the median annual salary for a federal employee is about $106,000. There are about two million civilian employees in the U.S., so, as Ramaswamy suggested, cutting it in half would save the government roughly Could save $100 billion a year.

Federal Employment by Metro Area (2022)

Purple map of federal employment share by metro area in 2022.

Data: US Census Bureau; Chart: Alice Fang/Oxios

How it works

Sources tell Axios that Musk plans to use AI and crowdsourcing to look for waste, fraud and abuse. However, DOGE is not a government department. Musk and Ramaswamy plan to create a nongovernmental organization to implement the entrepreneurial approach to government that Trump envisions.

What are they saying?

“This will send shockwaves through the system and affect everyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk said in a statement.

On the other hand

“People are scared and scared,” said Nicole Cantello, a lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency and president of the union representing EPA workers in the Upper Midwest. Everett Kelly, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, warned that millions of Americans must prepare for massive cuts in benefits and services to survive under the plans.

Reality check

With federal employees spread across the country, making significant cuts will be difficult. Members of Congress are generally reluctant to cut hometown jobs and services. “When will we do what we said we would do?” asked U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, after the GOP-led House passed a funding bill that promised spending cuts.

The bottom line

The goal of saving trillions will collide with the bipartisan reality that it’s easier and more popular to give than to take away, as Axios’ Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen note.