Custodial Working
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Custodial Working occupation series (code 3566): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
With 12,122 employees (0.6% of the federal civilian workforce), Custodial Working ranks as a mid-sized federal occupation within the General Services and Support Work Family family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $47,108 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.2%
- Pay change
- +0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 8.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 5
FedScope read on Custodial Working (dense series)
On pay, the move between reporting periods was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. 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. Headcount moved down 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.
Code 35, the General Services and Support Work Family family, is where the federal government classifies Custodial Working alongside 4 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Custodial Working postings should also review these sibling occupations in the General Services and Support Work Family family. The General Services and Support Work Family family totals 14,196 employees, and Custodial Working accounts for 85.4% of them. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (0th percentile) of pay among General Services and Support Work Family occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Custodial Working pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$47,108
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-59.9%
Where Custodial Working ranks on lean federal pay
Custodial Working earns more on average than 4% of federal occupation series (22 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Custodial Working sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Custodial Working.
Related Occupations in General Services and Support Work Family
4 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laboring | 1,663 | $48,277 | 6.3 yrs |
| Misc General Services and Support Work | 371 | $51,243 | 6 yrs |
| Laboratory Working | 23 | $50,290 | 10.5 yrs |
| Railroad Repairing | 17 | n/a | 4.8 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Custodial Working outside the General Services and Support Work Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (12,122 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($47,108 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Custodial Working 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 General Services and Support Work Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Custodial Working 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.