Across the country, millions of people work in the public sector, including teachers, clerks and soldiers. The different levels of government employ 16% of U.S. workers, according to a recent Gallup survey. The federal government employs 4.5%, state governments 6.3% and local governments 5.2%.

Click here to see the states with the most government employees

The percentage of people employed by government in each state varies widely. In Indiana, government entities employ only 11.5% of workers. In Alaska, they employ 28%. Based on Gallup’s survey of government employment by state for 2012, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 states with the most government workers.

There are a number of reasons why government employment is very high in some states. Several have a significant military presence. For instance, North Carolina is home to eight military bases, including the largest army post in the country. Other states with a large military presence relative to their populations include Hawaii and Virginia. In fact, the four states with the largest percentages of government workers are all among the top five states for per capita spending by the U.S. Department of Defense.

In addition, several of the states — Maryland, Virginia and even parts of West Virginia — are close to Washington D.C., the hub of federal government employment. Cities such as Bethesda, Md., and Arlington, Va., are within the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Virginia is also home to the Pentagon, where tens of thousands of civilian and uniformed employees work. Maryland is home to the National Institutes of Health, which employs thousands as well.

There are other reasons why some of these states have a large government presence. For instance, the U.S. Department of the Interior employs a large proportion of Alaska’s population. In Washington and New Mexico, which border Canada and Mexico, the many ports of entry help boost the percentage of people who are government workers.

When government employment takes a hit, these states are most directly affected, and that has been the case over the past few years. Governments have been laying off workers since the middle of 2008, mostly at the local level. Of the 725,000 government jobs that have been cut since 2008, 80% have been in local government, according to Martin Kohli, Chief Regional Economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The BLS projects that local government employment will increase through 2012, led by demand at schools serving growing populations. Federal government jobs, however, are projected to decline. “We’re expecting things like the post office are going to continue to shrink, as people are using email to do things more, they’re paying bills electronically and magazine circulation is falling,” says Kohli.

There also will be long-term declines in other non-post office federal departments, says Kohli. States like Virginia, Alaska, Hawaii and Maryland, where more than one in five jobs are in the federal government, likely will be the most severely affected by this.

Based on Gallup’s Government Employment by State, 2012 survey, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 states with the largest proportion of its workers employed by the government. Gallup broke down government employment at the federal, state and local levels. Information on median income and unemployment came from the U.S. Census Bureau. Changes in government employment came from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Defense spending figures came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Consolidated Federal Funds Report.

These are the 10 states with the most government workers.

10. North Carolina
> Pct. working for government: 18.1%
> Median household income: $43,916 (12th lowest)
> Unemployment: 9.4% (5th highest)

Approximately 8.6% of the North Carolina workforce was employed by the state’s government, the eighth-highest percentage of all states. In addition, the federal government employs more than 5% of North Carolina workers, among the top third of all states. The state is home to eight military bases, including Fort Bragg, the Army’s largest post in terms of population. Between December 2008 and December 2012, government employment fell by roughly 16,000 jobs in the state. But that number was still up by nearly 60,000 from 2003.

9. Washington
> Pct. working for government: 19.0%
> Median household income: $56,835 (12th highest)
> Unemployment: 7.5% (21st highest)

Nearly 6% of the workforce in Washington was employed by the federal government, the sixth-highest percentage of all states. The state is home to numerous ports of entry between the United States and Canada, as well as sea ports transferring goods in and out of the country. In addition, 8% of all employees in Washington work for the state government, the 10th highest percentage of all states.

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8. Mississippi
> Pct. working for government: 19.1%
> Median household income: $36,919 (the lowest)
> Unemployment: 8.9% (7th highest)

Government employs 9.2% of Mississippi’s workforce, one of the highest percentages of all states. In Jackson, Mississippi’s largest city and the state capital, nearly 24% of the workforce was in the public sector in 2011, according to the Census Bureau. A mere 10.4% of government workers in the state were unionized in 2012, lower than all but three states and well below the 37% of government workers who were unionized across the country. The low government unionization levels in the state could be a factor in depressed wages. Mississippi’s median income of just $36,919 in 2011 was the lowest in the entire country.

7. Louisiana
> Pct. working for government: 19.9%
> Median household income: $41,734 (7th lowest)
> Unemployment: 5.6% (12th lowest)

Louisiana is one of the largest energy-producing states in the nation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and many workers are employed to manage the environmental costs. Louisiana has a Department of Environmental Quality, a Department of Natural Resources and a Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office. In addition to energy, prisons also drive the number of government jobs higher. According to a report by The Times-Picayune, Louisiana is the world’s “prison capital” due to the high number of people behind bars, as well as the growth of a prison industry that generates jobs and profits. In all, 8% of workers were employed by the state government and 6.1% by the local governments — both among the highest proportions in the United States.

6. West Virginia
> Pct. working for government: 20.8%
> Median household income: $38,482 (2nd lowest)
> Unemployment: 7.4% (22nd highest)

In West Virginia, a nation-leading 11.4% of all workers are state government employees. Unlike many states, however, in West Virginia public workers are often employed to assist energy production operations. This is largely driven by the fact that West Virginia is the second-largest coal producer after Wyoming, according to the EIA. In 2011, West Virginia had a higher concentration of workers in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining industries than all but five other states. Also, government employment is affected by parts of West Virginia’s proximity to Washington D.C.

5.  New Mexico
> Pct. working for government: 21.8%
> Median household income: $41,963 (8th lowest)
> Unemployment: 6.6% (18th lowest)

More than 8% of New Mexico’s workforce was employed by the federal government, the fifth-highest percentage of all states. In addition, 9.4% of employees in New Mexico worked for the state government, also the fifth-highest percentage. However, just 4% worked for a local government of some sort, the 10th-lowest percentage of all states. New Mexico has three ports of entry between the U.S. and Mexico: Santa Teresa, Columbus and Antelope Wells. The BLS estimates that the state had just under 190,000 government employees as of December — the lowest government employment has been in that month for more than 10 years.

4. Virginia
> Pct. working for government: 22.8%
> Median household income: $61,882 (7th highest)
> Unemployment: 5.6% (12th lowest)

In Virginia, more than 11% of all workers were federal government employees, a figure that trails just three other states. In northern Virginia, many people commute into Washington D.C. to work for the federal government. The Pentagon is also located in Virginia, right outside of D.C., employing tens of thousands of uniformed and civilian workers. Areas outside the capital region also employ many government workers, including military bases around Virginia Beach.

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3. Maryland
> Pct. working for government: 25.5%
> Median household income: $70,004 (the highest)
> Unemployment: 6.7% (21st lowest)

More than 13% of all workers in Maryland worked for the federal government as of 2012. Many people who live in the Maryland suburbs and work for the federal government commute into Washington D.C. or the nearby suburbs in northern Virginia. In addition, Maryland is home to the National Institutes of Health, an agency that employs 18,000 people. Also, 6.4% of Maryland’s workforce was employed by local governments, the fifth-highest percentage of all states. The presence of high-paying government jobs has helped Maryland become a high-income state.  In 2011, the median income was more than $70,000 — the highest in the country.

2. Hawaii
> Pct. working for government: 27.8%
> Median household income: $61,821 (8th highest)
> Unemployment: 5.1% (7th lowest)

Nearly 13% of workers in Hawaii worked for the federal government, more than any other state except for Maryland. Hawaii is home to several large military bases spread across the islands, including Fort Shafter, Schofield Barracks and Naval Station Pearl Harbor. According to the Census Bureau, in Honolulu, the largest metropolitan area in Hawaii, more than 23% of the workforce was employed in a state, local or federal government job in 2011, one of the highest rates among the nation’s metropolitan areas.

1. Alaska
> Pct. working for government: 28.0%
> Median household income: $67,825 (2nd highest)
> Unemployment: 6.6% (18th lowest)

A whopping 28% of Alaska workers were employed by some government entity, more than any other state in the U.S. This is down, however, from 29.6% in 2011. In Alaska’s largest metropolitan area, Anchorage, more than 23% of the workforce was employed by a government entity in 2011. Employment in government is very high because the Department of the Interior owns 75 million acres of federal land in Alaska, which requires a lot of maintenance. The Alaska Tribal Health System, run by the Indian Health Service, also employs many people. Unlike many states, which saw a significant decline in government employment during the recession, Alaska’s public workforce in December 2012 was up slightly from the same month in 2008, according to the BLS.

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