[specialp]

It is exceedingly rare to make over 200k in govt. Most heads of agencies and other high level roles are GS-15 which tops out around 195k

What you USED to get in exchange for less salary was stability as government jobs were viewed as less vulnerable to economic cycles and uncertainty. Now that value prop is gone

[toast0]

Governent jobs top out on salary, and generally offer a lower salary than similar jobs anyway, but...

Government jobs often have nicer health care plans than many corporate plans (but some corporate plans are very nice too).

Government jobs are still likely to have a defined benefit pension. Those are potentially a large deferred compensation, that can be hard to evaluate fiscally, but can be an amazing resource. If you can manage to get 20 years of Active Duty military, retirement benefits are pretty good, and there's nothing private sector that is close to that.

[kyawzazaw]

most corporate healthcare plans for techworkers at 18F level will be top notch

[t3rabytes]

Agency heads can be SES and can make more than GS-15, but the max is still far lower than private sector equivalent.