The traditional wisdom is that government jobs pay less but offer better work-life balance and stability. However, I'm not finding this to be the case in my situation. I have an MS degree, but only a year or so of professional work experience.
It's my understanding that with an MS, you automatically get hired at a GS-9, at least if it's a research position, and not a technician job. This is about 60k a year currently.
Meanwhile, it's hard to find a private consulting firm willing to pay this much unless you have 5-10 years of working experience. I just got a job offer from a firm at 23/hour. I mentioned I could make 60k in a government job and they acted like that was a lot of money - "I have friends that've been working for years and don't make anywhere near that much!"
I don't understand why people wax lyrical about the largesse of the private sector when in my experience they're more likely to lowball you than an equivalent role in the government.