Animal Caretaking
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Animal Caretaking occupation series (code 5048).
The verdict
Animal Caretaking is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 307 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Plant and Animal Work Family family. At an average salary of $58,156 it pays below the federal average, and headcount declined from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- -4.7%
- Pay change
- +0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 8.7 yrs
- Rank in family
- #2 of 7
What the Numbers Say About Animal Caretaking
On pay, the move between reporting periods was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. 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. Headcount moved down versus the prior period, though at this small a headcount, year-to-year swings can reflect a handful of hires or departures rather than a broad hiring trend.
Animal Caretaking sits inside the Plant and Animal Work Family family (code 50), which contains 7 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Animal Caretaking postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Plant and Animal Work Family family. Across the Plant and Animal Work Family family, 1,470 employees work in 7 occupations; Animal Caretaking is 20.9% of that headcount.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Animal Caretaking pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$58,156
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-50.4%
Where Animal Caretaking ranks on lean federal pay
Animal Caretaking earns more on average than 12% of federal occupation series (63 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Animal Caretaking sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Animal Caretaking.
Related Occupations in Plant and Animal Work Family
6 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gardening | 465 | $67,401 | 11.9 yrs |
| Pest Controlling | 289 | $72,091 | 13 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Plant and Animal Work | 249 | $68,338 | 9.3 yrs |
| Insects Production Working | 97 | $55,565 | 8.6 yrs |
| Tree Trimming and Removing | 62 | $75,736 | 10 yrs |
| Farming | 1 | $71,083 | 28.5 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Animal Caretaking outside the Plant and Animal Work Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (307 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($58,156 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Animal Caretaking 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 Plant and Animal Work Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Animal Caretaking 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.