Archivist
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Archivist occupation series (code 1420), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
Archivist is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 571 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Library and Archives Group family. At an average salary of $121,113 it pays near the federal average of $117,339, and headcount declined 0.3% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 571
- Share of workforce
- 0.0%
- Avg salary
- $121,113
- Avg tenure
- 15.8 yrs
What the Numbers Say About Archivist
0.0% of the federal civilian workforce (1,953,300 employees total, June 2026) works in the Archivist occupation (OPM code 1420): 571 people, headcount down -0.3% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.
Archivist pays $121,113 per year on average, moving up 0.1% from the prior period (a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change). Employees in this role stay an average of 15.8 years, a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
The Library and Archives Group family (code 14) groups Archivist together with 5 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Archivist postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Library and Archives Group family.
Inside the Library and Archives Group family (6 occupations, 3,259 employees combined), Archivist holds the #3 spot by headcount, a 17.5% share of the family total. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (40th percentile) of pay among Library and Archives Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Archivist pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
$121,113
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+3.2%
Where Archivist ranks on rich federal pay
Its average salary of $121,113 is higher than 68% of federal occupation series (370 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Archivist sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; Archivist ranks higher than 68%.
Related Occupations in Library and Archives Group
5 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archives Technician | 1,284 | $68,544 | 14 yrs |
| Librarian | 660 | $129,880 | 15.7 yrs |
| Technical Information Services | 483 | $128,567 | 16.8 yrs |
| Library Technician | 260 | $70,783 | 16.4 yrs |
| Library and Archives Student Trainee | 1 | n/a | 1.8 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Archivist outside the Library and Archives Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (571 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($121,113 here).
Key takeaways
- Archivist pays near the federal average by 3.2% ($121,113 vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 68th percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A smaller, specialized federal occupation by headcount: 571 employees, 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 0.3% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, Archivist ranks #278 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Inside the Library and Archives Group family (6 occupations, 3,259 employees combined), Archivist holds the #3 spot by headcount, a 17.5% share of the family total.
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.