Aerospace Engineering

What the Numbers Say About Aerospace Engineering

As of the March 2025 reporting window, 9,928 people work in the Aerospace Engineering occupation (OPM code 861) across federal agencies, 0.4% of the 2,289,472-strong federal civilian workforce. Headcount moved up by 0.1% from the prior period, a useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition.

The average salary for Aerospace Engineering is $143,246 per year, placing it 30.4% above the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 1.9% from the prior period, a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement. Average length of service in this role is 13.6 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 8, the Engineering and Architecture Group family, is where the federal government classifies Aerospace Engineering alongside 28 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Aerospace Engineering postings should also review these sibling occupations, since federal hiring managers often cross-post positions across closely related codes when recruitment is difficult. All figures here come directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes, the same official source referenced in federal workforce planning, budget justifications, and GAO reports.

Aerospace Engineering makes up 7.0% of the 142,526 employees across the Engineering and Architecture Group family, ranking #6 of 29 occupations in that family by headcount. Its average salary ranks in the top half (90th percentile) of pay among Engineering and Architecture Group occupations.