Aviation Safety
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Aviation Safety occupation series (code 1825): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
With 4,206 employees (0.2% of the federal civilian workforce), Aviation Safety ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Investigation Group family, and headcount edged up from the prior period. Its average salary of $143,216 pays above the federal average.
- Headcount change
- +0.4%
- Pay change
- -0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 15 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 20
FedScope read on Aviation Safety (dense series)
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. Headcount moved up versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. As for pay, the latest move was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change.
Code 18, the Investigation Group family, is where the federal government classifies Aviation Safety alongside 19 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Aviation Safety postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Investigation Group family. Aviation Safety makes up 2.0% of the Investigation Group family's 209,389 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (83rd percentile) of pay among Investigation Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Aviation Safety pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$143,216
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+22.1%
Where Aviation Safety ranks on rich federal pay
Aviation Safety earns more on average than 84% of federal occupation series (457 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Aviation Safety sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Aviation Safety.
Related Occupations in Investigation Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance Inspection and Support | 53,444 | n/a | 9.8 yrs |
| Criminal Investigation | 44,633 | n/a | 14.5 yrs |
| General Inspection, Investigation, Enforcement, and Compliance Series | 44,491 | n/a | 14.8 yrs |
| Customs and Border Protection | 27,421 | n/a | 14.7 yrs |
| Border Patrol Enforcement Series | 21,781 | n/a | 13.3 yrs |
| Consumer Safety Inspection | 5,242 | $74,073 | 15.3 yrs |
| Investigative Analysis | 2,129 | n/a | 15.9 yrs |
| Import Compliance Series | 1,104 | $126,314 | 16.5 yrs |
| Wage and Hour Investigation Series | 885 | $120,994 | 17.1 yrs |
| Mine Safety and Health Inspection Series | 875 | $112,306 | 13.2 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Aviation Safety outside the Investigation Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (4,206 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($143,216 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Aviation Safety 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 Investigation Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Aviation Safety 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.