Guides · OPM FedScope · June 2026
Federal Employment Guides
Plain-language explanations of how federal pay and hiring work, tied to the live FedScope picture of 1,953,300 civilian employees across 126 agencies (June 2026).
What the guides answer
GS-12 is the largest GS grade band in this release (263,957 employees), while the civilian average salary sits near $117,339 - the guides below unpack how those numbers are produced.
- 7
- Guides in the set
- 1,953,300
- Employees in release
- GS-12
- Largest GS band
- $117,339
- Civilian avg salary
Every guide cites OPM FedScope (June 2026) for workforce figures; GS base rates use the published 2026 General Schedule where pay tables appear.
Download the 51-jurisdiction duty-station extract: federal-workforce-by-state.csv (same extract as /statistics).
GS workforce by grade
All guides
- 1 8 min read
Understanding Federal Pay
How GS, SES, and WG schedules work, plus locality pay and what FedScope shows about pay distribution.
- 2 7 min read
GS Pay Scale Explained
Grades 1-15, steps 1-10, locality adjustments, and how to read a federal pay table.
- 3 7 min read
Federal Workforce Trends
Which agencies are growing or shrinking, how occupations shift, and where jobs concentrate geographically.
- 4 8 min read
Highest-Paying Federal Jobs
Top federal civilian occupations by average salary and the pay authorities that push above standard GS limits.
- 5 10 min read
How to Get a Government Job
USAJobs, GS qualifications, federal resumes, clearances, and special hiring authorities.
- 6 7 min read
Veterans Preference Explained
How 5- and 10-point preference works in competitive hiring, and what FedScope shows about veteran employment.
- 7 8 min read
Federal Benefits Overview
Leave accrual, health insurance, TSP, and FERS pension basics tied to the civilian workforce picture.
How is this guide data sourced?
Guides cite the Office of Personnel Management FedScope dataset, the official source for federal civilian workforce statistics, and the published General Schedule pay tables where grade/step rates appear.
When methodologies differ between sources or change over time, we note those variations inline. See also methodology and interactive tools.
PlainGovJobs is rendered directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes and Federal Workforce Data (FWD), figures are sourced from published program rules and verified against primary sources. Workforce figures in these guides come from the live FedScope release; GS base rates use the published General Schedule tables. Program-rule dollar amounts are cited from OPM, not invented. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Data current as of June 2026. OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.