How many people work for the City of Leander?

In short

• The city had about 490 full-time-equal jobs in 2025. In 2016 it had about 266. That is about 85% more (our math).¹²
• The city’s population grew faster, by about 124% (our math).³²
• So there are fewer city jobs per resident. About 6.4 per 1,000 residents in 2016, about 5.3 in 2025 (our math).²

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

How it works

• A “full-time-equal” job counts two half-time jobs as one. It is a way to add up all workers.¹
• The numbers come from the city’s approved budgets. The audit report repeats them, but the outside auditor does not check them.¹
• The table skips 2019. The city’s own table jumps from 2018 to 2020.¹

What the numbers show

Department group	2016	2025	Change (our math)
Police	67.0	117.0	+75%
Fire	57.5	96.5	+68%
Water and wastewater	37.0	61.0	+65%
Planning and development	31.0	57.4	+85%
Parks, recreation and library	17.0	51.2	+201%
General government	19.5	47.0	+141%
Streets	19.0	37.0	+95%
Golf course	17.6	23.5	+33%
Total	265.6	490.5	+85%

Source: City of Leander annual financial report, fiscal 2025, Table 15.¹

• Police and fire are about 44% of city jobs (our math).²
• Parks and the library grew the most, about three times as many jobs (our math).²

How Leander compares with nearby cities

City	Year	City jobs	Jobs per 1,000 residents (our math)
Leander	2025	490.5	5.3
Round Rock	2024	1,177	8.9
Georgetown	2025	1,032	9.0

Sources: each city’s own annual financial report, statistical section.⁴⁵

• Leander has the fewest city jobs per resident of the three (our math).⁵
• Round Rock went from about 8.2 to 8.9 jobs per 1,000 residents from 2015 to 2024 (our math).⁵
• Georgetown went from about 11.1 to 9.0 from 2016 to 2025 (our math).⁵
• This is not a fair race. Georgetown runs its own electric company, so its count includes electric workers.⁴ Cities also differ in which services they run themselves and which they hire out.
• We could not get Cedar Park’s report. Its website blocked our download, so Cedar Park is left out.

The other side

• Fewer jobs per resident can mean a city got more efficient. It can also mean service is spread thinner. These numbers alone do not tell which.
• Some work is done by contractors, not city staff. This table counts only city jobs.
• Fast-growing cities often add people before they add staff. New homes can come before new services.
• Population numbers are the city’s own estimates. They are a bit higher than the Census estimate. See city population growth.

Questions to ask

• Where does the city post the cost of pay and benefits by year?
• How does the city compare its staffing with nearby cities?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: We changed wording so it says no more than our sources show.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.

What you can do or watch next

• See city workload ten years for calls, water connections and streets over the same years.
• See city budget fy2027 for the new budget.

What we still don’t know

• What city jobs cost in pay and benefits each year. This table counts jobs, not dollars.
• How Leander compares with Cedar Park. We could not get its report.

Footnotes

1. City of Leander, Annual Financial Report, fiscal year 2025, statistical section, Table 15, “Full-Time Equivalent City Government Employees by Function” (unaudited; source given as City Council approved budgets), p.120. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Our math. Total 490.49 ÷ 265.60 = 1.85. Population 92,872 ÷ 41,481 = 2.24. Jobs per 1,000 residents: 265.60 ÷ 41.481 = 6.40; 490.49 ÷ 92.872 = 5.28. Police and fire 2025: (117.00 + 96.50) ÷ 490.49 = 43.5%. Parks 51.16 ÷ 17.00 = 3.01. Planning 57.38; golf 23.45. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Same report, Table 14, “Demographic and Economic Statistics,” population (city planning department estimate): 2016 41,481; 2025 92,872. ↩

4. City of Round Rock, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal 2024, “Full-time Equivalent City Government Employees by Function” (2015: 868; 2024: 1,177) and “Demographic and Economic Statistics” (population 2015: 105,405; 2024: 132,927). City of Georgetown, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal 2025, “Full Time Equivalent City Government Employees by Function” (2016: 658; 2025: 1,032) and “Demographic and Economic Statistics” (population 2016: 59,134; 2025: 115,079); the report says the city provides electric service. ↩ ↩²

5. Our math. Round Rock 868 ÷ 105.405 = 8.23; 1,177 ÷ 132.927 = 8.85. Georgetown 658 ÷ 59.134 = 11.13; 1,032 ÷ 115.079 = 8.97. Leander 490.49 ÷ 92.872 = 5.28. Years differ by city because the newest reports differ. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴