Civil Engineering

What the Numbers Say About Civil Engineering

Federal agencies employ 12,414 people in the Civil Engineering occupation (OPM code 810), accounting for 0.5% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -0.5% 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.

The average salary for Civil Engineering is $121,930 per year, placing it 11.0% above the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 2.2% from the prior period, a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce. Average length of service in this role is 12.7 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

The Engineering and Architecture Group family (code 8) groups Civil Engineering together with 28 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Civil Engineering postings should also review these sibling occupations, since federal hiring managers often cross-post positions across closely related codes when recruitment is difficult. All figures here come directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes, the same official source referenced in federal workforce planning, budget justifications, and GAO reports.

Within the Engineering and Architecture Group family, Civil Engineering ranks #5 of 29 by headcount, accounting for 8.7% of the family's combined 142,526 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (34th percentile) of pay among Engineering and Architecture Group occupations.