Botany
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Botany occupation series (code 0430): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
In the Biological Sciences Group family, Botany counts 278 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount edged down from the prior period; pay averages $95,628, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- -0.7%
- Pay change
- +0.3%
- Avg tenure
- 15 yrs
- Rank in family
- #21 of 31
What the Numbers Say About Botany
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 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. 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.
Botany sits inside the Biological Sciences Group family (code 04), which contains 31 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Botany 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; Botany is 0.4% of that headcount.
Salary Context
How Botany pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$95,628
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-18.5%
Where Botany ranks on federal pay
Botany earns more on average than 51% of federal occupation series (274 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Botany sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Botany.
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 |
| Biological Science Technician | 5,212 | $56,618 | 8.9 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 |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Botany outside the Biological Sciences Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (278 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($95,628 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Botany 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 Botany 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.