Boatswain's Mate
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Boatswain's Mate occupation series (code 9923): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
With 199 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Boatswain's Mate ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family, and headcount grew from the prior period. Its average salary of $60,969 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- +1.5%
- Pay change
- +0.6%
- Avg tenure
- 16.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #8 of 55
What the Numbers Say About Boatswain's Mate
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, though at this small a headcount, year-to-year swings can reflect a handful of hires or departures rather than a broad hiring trend. As for pay, the latest move was a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement.
Boatswain's Mate sits inside the Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family (code 99), which contains 55 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Boatswain's Mate postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family. The Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family totals 6,786 employees, and Boatswain's Mate accounts for 2.9% of them.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Boatswain's Mate pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$60,969
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-48.0%
Where Boatswain's Mate ranks on lean federal pay
Boatswain's Mate earns more on average than 15% of federal occupation series (83 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Boatswain's Mate sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Boatswain's Mate.
Related Occupations in Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System)
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steward Utilityman | 646 | n/a | 5.1 yrs |
| Ordinary Seaman | 619 | $42,990 | 2.5 yrs |
| Able Seaman-Maintenance | 556 | n/a | 11.2 yrs |
| Wiper | 449 | $42,656 | 2.9 yrs |
| Able Seaman | 338 | $51,760 | 12.1 yrs |
| Engine Utilityman | 283 | n/a | 8.5 yrs |
| Third Officer | 249 | n/a | 4.2 yrs |
| Assistant Storekeeper | 194 | n/a | 6.1 yrs |
| Second Assistant Engineer | 186 | $107,628 | 13.5 yrs |
| Third Assistant Engineer | 184 | $95,672 | 6.9 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Boatswain's Mate outside the Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (199 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($60,969 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Boatswain's Mate 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 Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family occupations in the table above, or search current Boatswain's Mate 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.