State Government Relatively Lean

Believe it or not, California has one of the country's smallest governments compared to its population. That's from an analysis released today by the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy, which said the Golden State has the second lowest number of state employees relative to its (37 million) population. Of course, some of the bulkiest expenses in the California budget are not state employee salaries, but rather welfare and health care assistance. Nevertheless:

"California had 89 state employees for every 10,000 residents, while Illinois had the lowest ratio at 86. The U.S. average was 124 state employees per 10,000 residents. ... When state and local government employees (including education) are added together, California has the 6th lowest ratio of employees to population. California had 486 state and local employees per 10,000 residents in 2006. Only Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida and Michigan were lower."

The information is based on a new report, released Monday, from the U.S. Census Bureau.