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Study Shows Pay Gap Between NC Public And Private Workers Doubles

By The Raleigh Telegram

Monday, August 2, 2010

RALEIGH - A conservative North Carolina non-profit group has released a study that says the gap between the salaries of private workers and public sector employees has doubled in the last ten years.

According to a study released today by the Civitas Institute in Raleigh, state employees earn an average salary of $44,158 while private sector employee wages averaged $39,350 – a difference of 12.2 percent.

The group says that the 2009 wage gap is twice the six percent pay differential from 2000, when average state employee wages were $32,832 compared to average private sector earnings of $30,977 or only 6%.

In other words, in one decade, the gap has doubled.

In another release last month, the Civitas Institute also said that state government employee average salaries have grown substantially faster than those in the private sector over the last decade.

From 2000 to 2009, state worker salaries rose by 34.5 percent while private sector average salaries rose just 27 percent.

The group says that when accounting for salaries, they did not include state government benefits such as health care or pensions.

“The average state worker’s compensation package reaches $67,008 when the typical benefits package is added to the average yearly wage,” said the Civitas group in a statement. “In contrast, average total compensation for North Carolina private sector workers is $55,737 – a 20 percent difference.”

“These findings underscore the new class struggle that has emerged between North Carolina’s private sector workers and the privileged political class,” commented Civitas policy analyst Brian Balfour.

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