The catch? They might have to leave the ACT to find the role.

The largest government pay survey to date has also confirmed that the wage gap between the Australian Public Service and business is slowly widening.

Consulting firm Mercer compared the pay of public servants, as of December 2010, with similarly qualified employees whose tasks were of equal value in the labour market.

The median base salary of an executive level 1 officer - the largest cohort of bureaucrats in the ACT - was $97,275, while the median pay of an equivalent private-sector worker was $8477 more.

But the gap widened when other conditions - superannuation and fringe benefits such as cars - were included.

The standard EL1 had a total salary package of $112,788, which was $24,328 short of the business equivalent. APS6 officers' median package was $89,882, or $23,063 less than in the private sector.

The Mercer report found public servants at every level above APS2 earned less than their business counterparts. Graduates in the private sector earned slightly less.

Deputy secretaries faced the greatest potential loss: their median pay package of $335,335 compared with the $504,271 paid to comparable business executives.

The results might confound some ACT employers, who say the public service regularly poaches staff by offering more money.

Canberra Business Council chief executive Chris Faulks said yesterday the study was skewed by the high salaries available in Sydney and Melbourne, which local businesses couldn't match.

''What we find is that, in Canberra, the public sector pays more than the private sector for similar positions, particularly mid-level administrative roles. I regularly hear anecdotes that the public service is paying $10,000 more than the private sector.''

Ms Faulks said the ACT labour market had been extremely tight for years, and some businesses were considering moving to areas where government agencies weren't competing for staff.

''There are a number of companies in Canberra that are seriously considering moving to places like south-east Queensland, where you have a higher unemployment rate, lower salaries and you don't have to compete with the public service. That's a serious issue for the ACT,'' she said.

The ACT's jobless rate last month was 3.5per cent, far below the national rate of 5.1per cent.

The Public Service Commission said yesterday the latest data showed public servants' pay growth had remained ''relatively stable'' compared with the private sector's.

''It has long been accepted in the APS that employees are reasonably paid, but not necessarily the highest paid. Indeed, the State of the Service employee survey shows that money is not the primary motivator [for APS work], subject to reasonable remuneration,'' a spokesman said.

Last year's report found the top three factors that attracted public servants were job security, the job matched their interest and experience, and location of their office.