Biological Science Technician
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Biological Science Technician occupation series (code 0404), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
In the Biological Sciences Group family, Biological Science Technician counts 5,212 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.3% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount grew from the prior period; pay averages $56,618, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- +3.8%
- Pay change
- -0.9%
- Avg tenure
- 8.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #4 of 31
FedScope read on Biological Science Technician (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 down 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.
Biological Science Technician sits inside the Biological Sciences Group family (code 04), which contains 31 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Biological Science Technician postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Biological Sciences Group family. Across the Biological Sciences Group family, 67,961 employees work in 31 occupations; Biological Science Technician is 7.7% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (10th percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Biological Science Technician pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$56,618
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-51.7%
Where Biological Science Technician ranks on lean federal pay
Biological Science Technician earns more on average than 11% of federal occupation series (57 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Biological Science Technician sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Biological Science Technician.
Related Occupations in Biological Sciences Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences | 23,662 | $124,641 | 14 yrs |
| Forestry Technician | 11,090 | $61,659 | 8.7 yrs |
| Wildland Fire Management | 9,667 | $64,457 | 7 yrs |
| Soil Conservation | 4,101 | $89,391 | 13.8 yrs |
| Wildlife Biology | 1,868 | $95,468 | 16.3 yrs |
| Fish Biology | 1,629 | $116,550 | 16.2 yrs |
| Microbiology | 1,629 | $143,306 | 16.3 yrs |
| Forestry | 1,626 | $88,902 | 15.1 yrs |
| Ecology | 989 | $122,664 | 16.1 yrs |
| Rangeland Management | 692 | $88,317 | 14.6 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Biological Science Technician outside the Biological Sciences 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 (5,212 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($56,618 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Biological Science Technician 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 Biological Sciences Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Biological Science Technician 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.