The Citizen Experience

Satisfaction is down in most facets of government interactions, including the process for getting benefits and services, the clarity and accessibility of information, and staff courteousness and professionlism, which has declined the most. ACSI notes customer service is often the first casualty of spending cuts, especially if the service is labor-intensive.

Bringing Up the Rear

Federal agencies continue to lag behind the private sector in customer satisfaction. Among specific industries, only Internet service providers scored lower—at 63.

How Agencies Stack Up

No federal department scores above the national ACSI score of 75.6. The Defense Department leads in citizen satisfaction while the Treasury Department ranks the lowest, which is attributed to the tax-collecting mission of the Internal Revenue Service. Scores at the Health and Human Services Department dropped from 69 in 2012 to 62 in 2014.

Silver Linings

Despite government’s overall showing in the ACSI report, some agencies rate high in customer satisfaction. Retirees doing business with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation give the agency a 90, which is higher than the leading private sector company—Amazon—at 88.

Note: Agencies and offices can receive multiple scores based on types of service and customer (internal and external)