Who is the 'average' fed?

If you are someone who gets incensed every time you hear something about “overpaid” feds — or if you are a non-fed who believes that stuff — we have something for you to read.

It’s from President Barack Obama's fiscal 2012 budget. It’s a chapter called “Improving the Federal Workforce.” It’s buried in the “Performance and Management” section of the “Analytical Perspectives” portion of the budget.

Got that?

At a concise 10 pages, the information in the chapter comes from the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Personnel Management, Bureau of Labor Statistics and various other federal agencies.

The chapter contains discussions of the challenges faced by the federal workforce and ways to engage, improve and strengthen it. It also tells you who does what in the federal government, how old they are and how educated they are — all compared to the private sector.

Advocates who defend federal pay argue that today’s federal employees tend to be older, more educated and higher-level workers. In other words, an “average” fed is not an “average” private-sector worker.

It doesn’t take much reading into the chapter to realize that the data provides strong support for the advocates’ case.

Take a look. It’s good ammunition.