WASHINGTON – The nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service and global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group today released the 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government ® rankings and data, which reveal the first increase in federal employee engagement and satisfaction since 2020.
The 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government engagement and satisfaction score is 65.7 out of 100, representing a 2.3-point increase from 2022 in how the nation’s civil servants view their agencies and jobs. This data includes responses from more than 1 million federal employees, the highest total in the history of the Best Places to Work rankings.
“The gains in federal employee engagement are promising and indicate that an intentional focus on the management of the workforce can make a difference,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “A highly motivated, engaged and expert career federal workforce, a cornerstone of American democracy, is critical to a well-functioning government and the success of our country.”
The 2023 rankings include 532 federal agencies and agency subcomponents, the most in the history of the rankings. Of the 73 agencies included in this year’s rankings, 49 registered increases or held steady in their Best Places to Work scores compared with 2022. Among the 459 subcomponents, 303 improved or held steady. Both findings are substantial improvements from the past two years.
“Organizations that invest in their workforce reap the benefits of both engagement and productivity,” said Brooke Bollyky, leader of BCG’s Public Sector Practice in North America. “Our research shows that the future of work revolves around talent, particularly developing generative leaders and building a continuous learning culture.”
NASA maintained its top spot among large agencies for the 12th consecutive year, while the runner-up Department of Health and Human Services again increased its Best Places to Work score. In the midsize agency category, the Government Accountability Office remained at the top for the fourth year in a row, and among small agencies, the National Indian Gaming Commission, a first-time participant in the rankings, topped the list.
The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission and Defense Technical Information Center within the Department of Defense each are the most improved in their respective groupings.
While many agencies and subcomponents across government increased or sustained their Best Places to Work scores, several agencies saw their scores drop. The Social Security Administration remained in last place among 17 large agencies, falling 1.8 points for a score of 52.1. Both the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development saw declines in their scores for the second year in a row, landing near the bottom of the rankings among large and midsize agencies, respectively.
In the midsize agencies, the National Science Foundation dropped out of the top five after finishing second the previous two years. The Export-Import Bank remained in last place among 30 small agencies with a score of 40.6 points, a drop of 14.4 points, while the Federal Bureau of Prisons was at the bottom of the subcomponents list with a score of 38.1 points, an improvement of 2.6 points over 2022.
The Best Places to Work rankings provide critical information to help agencies, the Biden administration and Congress assess workplace health and performance. In addition to overall satisfaction and commitment, the rankings measure employee attitudes on eight workplace categories, including effective leadership, recognition, work-life balance, pay, and support for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
The top five agencies in each of the four groupings, and the most improved agencies, will be honored at an event on May 20, 2024, at the National Press Club. The event will feature remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Rob Shriver, and spokespeople from the Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group.
| TOP FIVE LARGE AGENCIES | ||
| #1 | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 82.5 out of 100 |
| #2 | Department of Health and Human Services | 75.2 |
| #3 | Intelligence Community | 72.6 |
| #4 | Department of Commerce | 72.1 |
| #5 | Department of Veterans Affairs | 71.8 |
| TOP FIVE MIDSIZE AGENCIES | ||
| #1 | Government Accountability Office | 87.2 |
| #2 | General Services Administration | 84.5 |
| #3 | Securities and Exchange Commission | 82.9 |
| #4 | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | 82.6 |
| #5 | Environmental Protection Agency | 77.9 |
| TOP FIVE SMALL AGENCIES | ||
| #1 | National Indian Gaming Commission | 93.6 |
| #2 | National Endowment for the Humanities | 90.5 |
| #3 | Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation | 88.1 |
| #4 | U.S. Office of Special Counsel | 86.2 |
| #5 | Farm Credit Administration | 83.5 |
| TOP FIVE SUBCOMPONENTS | ||
| #1 | Office of Negotiations and Restructuring (PBGC) | 96.7 |
| #2 | Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DOD) | 92.0 |
| #3 | Office of the Chief Financial Officer (PBGC) | 91.7 |
| #4 | Office of Government-wide Policy (GSA) | 90.3 |
| #5 | Office of the Chief Financial Officer (NCUA) | 90.0 |
| MOST IMPROVED AGENCIES | ||
| Large | Department of Homeland Security | 60.8 (up 5.9 points) |
| Midsize | Federal Trade Commission | 75.4 (up 8.1 points) |
| Small | Consumer Product Safety Commission | 73.0 (up 9.8 points) |
| Subcomponent | Defense Technical Information Center (DOD) | 66.1 (up 22.9 points) |
Additional Key Findings
The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings, produced by the Partnership for Public Service and BCG, offer the most comprehensive assessment of how federal public servants view their jobs and workplaces, providing employee perspectives on leadership, pay, work-life balance and other issues. The 2023 rankings include 532 federal agencies and their subcomponents: 17 large agencies, 26 midsize agencies, 30 small agencies and 459 subcomponents. This is the 19th edition of the rankings, which began in 2003.
Most of the data used to develop the Best Places to Work scores and rankings was collected by the Office of Personnel Management’s annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which was administered during the summer of 2023 to eligible full–time and part–time, permanent, non–seasonal, non-political employees in the executive branch. The FEVS survey was completed by more than 625,000 federal workers. An additional 394,800 federal employees completed separate surveys within 12 other agencies, and their responses are included in our rankings.
A complete list of the rankings and accompanying data is available at bestplacestowork.org.
Boston Consulting Group