Gov't Size in Maryland Counties - 2012
-- by David Swink, FCTA, 07/28/2014
FCTA has been appalled by the cost of government. In Virginia, we have compared the 134 local governing jurisdictions (96 counties and 38 cities) strictly by the percentage of each population devoted to government, testing the proposition that "body count" might be an indicator of local government "efficiency". Virginia counties and cities averaged 3.95 percent.
We wanted to then check the results for Maryland (a very blue state) and Texas (a very red state), to see if there is some political correlation. The table below shows the results for Maryland, whose government "body count" for its 24 counties averaged 4.17 percent of the population.
Finding: With average local government "efficiency" in VA at 3.95%, MD at 4.17%, and TX at 4.22% -- a mere 0.27% variation -- we have not found this "body count" metric to be a major cost driver. So one must instead watch how those public servants are spending your money.
MdLoc:County: Locality 2012 Pop(Est) GenGov + Safety + School = TotGov PctGov Md001:AlleCo: Allegany Co 73,869 641 300 2,371 3,312 4.48% Md003:AnneCo: Anne Arundel Co 550,175 3,979 2,565 13,158 19,702 3.58% Md005:BaltCo: Baltimore Co 817,682 5,114 4,700 21,458 31,272 3.82% Md510:BaltCi: Baltimore City 622,417 9,534 6,167 12,802 28,503 4.58% Md009:CalvCo: Calvert Co 89,694 812 296 2,553 3,661 4.08% Md011:CaroCo: Caroline Co 32,644 342 115 968 1,425 4.37% Md013:AtasCo: Carroll Co 167,210 1,091 515 5,324 6,930 4.14% MD015:CeciCo: Cecil Co 101,684 606 355 3,047 4,008 3.94% Md017:CharCo: Charles Co 150,710 996 726 5,330 7,052 4.68% Md019:DorcCo: Dorchester Co 32,554 353 183 865 1,401 4.30% Md021:FredCo: Frederick Co 239,520 2,279 1,113 7,999 11,391 4.76% Md023:GarrCo: Garrett Co 29,850 386 88 1,129 1,603 5.37% Md025:HarfCo: Harford Co 248,540 1,585 922 7,357 9,864 3.97% Md027:HowaCo: Howard Co 299,356 2,370 1,181 10,916 14,467 4.83% Md029:KentCo: Kent Co 20,112 243 96 425 764 3.80% Md031:MontCo: Montgomery Co 1,004,476 13,225 4,552 28,323 46,100 4.59% Md033:PrgeCo: Pr George's Co 881,419 4,336 4,763 22,677 31,776 3.61% Md035:QuanCo: Queen Anne's Co 48,542 491 137 1,622 2,250 4.64% Md037:StmaCo: Saint Mary's Co 108,993 613 266 2,863 3,742 3.43% Md039:SomeCo: Somerset Co 26,206 248 105 599 952 3.63% Md041:TalbCo: Talbot Co 38,040 578 180 756 1,514 3.98% Md043:WashCo: Washington Co 149,087 1,020 612 4,225 5,857 3.93% Md045:WicoCo: Wicomico Co 100,521 895 549 3,234 4,678 4.65% Md047:WorcCo: Worcester Co 51,567 1,112 491 1,425 3,028 5.87% Md000:AllCo: 24 Counties 5,884,868 52,849 30,977 161,426 245,252 4.17% Md000:State: State Gov't 5,884,868 37,222 19,712 30,047 86,981 1.48% NOTE: All jobs are "Full-Time Equivalent Employment" "Safety" includes Police, Fire, Corrections, and Judicial
Helpful reference: American FactFinder Deep Linking Guide -- Version 2.6, March 22, 2013