The numbers here show the federal employees in Maryland by county in 2012, according to the latest figures from Eye on Washington, a Washington, DC-based lobbying firm that tracks federal employment. It compiles the data from the Office of Personnel Management, Federal Employment Statistics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here in the Washington, DC region, county officials, including Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, have urged congressional leaders to come to compromise on the sequester.

No one knows for certain what the sequestration cuts, some $85 billion, will mean exactly. Even if the March 1 federal cuts are enacted, the full effects would not be felt immediately. The government is required to alert impacted agencies of what cuts are to be made and what workers are to be furloughed.

Uncertainty for federal workers means they are likely to tighten their belts until they see what the cuts look like—and how long they last. It means those workers will likely spend less money at local shops and restaurants.

Near the Food and Drug Administration's Silver Spring headquarters, business owners recognized the impact of federal workers on their weekday business. 

In some communities there may be only a handful of federal workers and the impacts may be small. But, as these figures show, in other counties federal employees numbers in the thousands and in those places the sequestration could become a more significant pain, particularly if it drags on for weeks or months.

(U.S. Postal Service Employees are excluded in this count. The USPS receives no tax dollars in its operations and would not be affected by the sequestration cuts.)