Aircraft Mechanic
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Aircraft Mechanic occupation series (code 8852): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Aircraft Mechanic is a mid-sized federal occupation: 8,041 employees (0.4% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Aircraft Overhaul Family family. At an average salary of $96,241 it pays below the federal average, and headcount edged up from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +0.6%
- Pay change
- +0.7%
- Avg tenure
- 11.2 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 5
FedScope read on Aircraft Mechanic (dense series)
Headcount moved up versus 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. Pay moved up between the two reporting periods, a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement. On length of service, this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
The Aircraft Overhaul Family family (code 88) groups Aircraft Mechanic together with 4 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Aircraft Mechanic postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Aircraft Overhaul Family family. The Aircraft Overhaul Family family totals 10,049 employees, and Aircraft Mechanic accounts for 80.0% of them. Its average salary ranks right at the midpoint of pay among Aircraft Overhaul Family occupations.
Salary Context
How Aircraft Mechanic pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$96,241
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-18.0%
Where Aircraft Mechanic ranks on federal pay
Aircraft Mechanic earns more on average than 52% of federal occupation series (279 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Aircraft Mechanic sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Aircraft Mechanic.
Related Occupations in Aircraft Overhaul Family
4 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Aircraft Overhaul | 1,481 | n/a | 19.5 yrs |
| Aircraft Mechnical Parts Repairing | 327 | n/a | 15.3 yrs |
| Aircraft Attending | 132 | $63,296 | 13.6 yrs |
| Aircraft Propeller Mechanic | 68 | n/a | 11.3 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Aircraft Mechanic outside the Aircraft Overhaul Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (8,041 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($96,241 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Aircraft Mechanic pay in context with the pay-rank chart above, then compare it with another occupation.
- Turn an average salary into a grade: the GS pay grade tables show how grades and steps map to pay.
- Browse the Aircraft Overhaul Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Aircraft Mechanic postings on USAJOBS.
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.