Southwest Ohio potentially could be hit hard. Labor data indicate that nearly one in four federal civilian employees in Ohio are in Montgomery, Greene and Miami counties.
Jeff Hoagland, president and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition, said the federal workforce is very important to the Dayton region’s economy.
“We’re always concerned when private companies or the public sector consider layoffs, but we believe any affected employees will be well positioned for job opportunities within the region,” Hoagland said. “We hope impacted individuals will continue to grow their careers in Ohio.”
Some people also worry about the potential impact to government services if agencies see major job cuts.
Federal civilian employment
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is heavily involved in the Department of Government Efficiency, are trying to take a chainsaw to federal payrolls.
The Trump Administration has eliminated job positions, fired probationary workers and wants to lay off substantial numbers of federal civilian employees in the near future.
About 83,500 workers in Ohio were employed by the federal government at the end of 2024, which equates to about 1.5% of the state’s nonfarm payrolls, says survey data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This estimate does not include active-duty military personnel but counts the nearly 23,000 workers employed in the state by the U.S. Postal Service.
About one in 20 workers in the Dayton region were employed by the federal government at the end of last year (5% of the total workforce), or about 20,000 civilians, federal survey data show.
The Dayton metro area has a higher share of federal employees than any other urban center in the state. And just 29 of 387 U.S. metro areas across the nation have a higher share of federal civilian employees than the Dayton region, says BLS data.
Agencies with most Ohio workers
Data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management show that Ohio was home to slightly more than 56,000 federal civilian employees in September 2024, according to data published in late February.
This count does not include workers employed by the U.S. Postal Service, intelligence agencies and some parts of the legislative and judiciary branches of government. OPM data also excludes contractors and contract employees.
The VA had the most civilian employees in the state — 17,930, OPM data says. The Dayton VA Medical Center alone has more than 2,300 full-time employees.
The VA recently laid off more than 1,400 probationary employees in what it called “non-mission critical positions,” which the department said should save about $83 million annually.
The VA is considering eliminating about 80,000 jobs across the department’s national footprint. The VA had about 482,000 employees in September.
OPM data indicate that the Department of the Air Force has about 15,525 civilian employees in Ohio; the Department of Defense has 9,525; and the Department of the Army has 1,650.
Other federal agencies with substantial numbers of civilian workers in the state included the IRS (1,225 employees); NASA (1,545); the Social Security Administration (1,340); the Federal Aviation Administration (1,050); and the EPA (586), OPM data state.
The Trump Administration has already cut more than 6,000 jobs from the IRS and about 1,000 from the National Park Service (which last fall had about 260 employees in Ohio). Locally, about six permanent NPS positions were eliminated from the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.
The Social Security Administration recently announced plans to eliminate about 7,000 of its 57,000 employees across the nation.
The U.S. offices of personnel management and management and budget sent a memo in late February to the heads of all executive departments and agencies that says they should prepare to make large-scale job reductions.
The memo says agency heads need to develop agency reorganization plans by March 13 that should seek to reduce full-time employee headcounts by “eliminating positions that are not required.”
The memo also says reorg plans should seek to increase productivity and reduce agencies’ real property footprints and budget toplines.
The Social Security Administration, like other agencies that have been directed to shrink expenses, said its reorg plan will reduce costs and heavily focus on “mission critical work.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Trump Administration also has axed hundreds of FAA jobs and plans to make major budget cuts to the EPA and wants to eliminate the Department of Education.
Impact of cuts
Hoagland, with the Dayton Development Coalition, said the coalition is in communication with Air Force leadership to monitor the status of job reductions to civilian, military and contract workers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
He said the coalition is working with state officials and federal delegates to ensure Wright-Patt can continue its important national defense work.
“In keeping with President Trump’s executive order which gives agency heads the authority to exempt positions necessary to meet national security responsibilities, we request that exemptions for critical personnel at Wright-Patterson be granted,” he said.
Hoagland also said he believes any local workers affected by job cuts will have other job opportunities in this region.
“The Dayton region and Ohio have a strong job market for skilled professionals,” he said.
Many federal jobs have pretty good pay, though research suggests that similar jobs in the private sector pay more. OPM data says the average annual salary of federal civilian employees in Ohio was nearly $106,000.
However, about one third of employees in the state earned less than $80,000 annually, and seven in 10 had an annual salary below $120,000.
More than half of the federal civilian workforce in the state is 45 and older (54%).The average length of service of all federal civilian employees in the state was nearly 12 years.
The workforce is almost evenly split between males (51%) and females (49%).
Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein said the city is very closely monitoring DOGE activities and federal job reductions.
“There are enormous numbers of jobs that they are talking about cutting,” she said. “My question is, how is that going to impact the economy — local, state, federal?”
Number of federal civilian employees in Ohio by agency/department
Note: This count does not include workers employed by the U.S. Postal Service, intelligence agencies and some parts of the legislative and judiciary branches of government. Adding those departments brings the county closer to 83,000.
Department of Veteran Affairs: 17,930
Department of the Air Force: 15,520
Department of Defense: 9,525
Department of the Army: 1,650
Department of the Treasury (IRS, etc): 1,620
NASA: 1,546
Social Security Administration: 1,340
Department of Transportation: (FAA, etc.): 1,180
Department of Agriculture: 1,090
Department of Health and Human Services (CDC, etc.): 940
Environmental Protection Agency: 585
Department of Commerce (US Census Bureau, etc): 450
Department of Interior (National Park Service, etc.): 430
Department of Homeland Security (FEMA, etc.): 385
Department of Labor: 370
Department of Justice (Bureau of Prisons, etc.): 315
Department of Energy: 185
Department of the Navy: 180
General Services Administration: 160
Department of Housing and Urban Development: 110
Small Business Administration: 95
National Archives and Records Administration: 70
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: 50
Department of Education: 50
National Labor Relations Board: 45
Office of Personnel Management: 30
National Credit Union Administration: 25
Federal Trade Commission: 20
Total federal civilian employment in Ohio: 56,070
SOURCE: U.S. Office of Personnel Management
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