Deck Engineer-Machinist
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (March 2025), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Deck Engineer-Machinist occupation series (code 9952).
The verdict
Deck Engineer-Machinist is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 114 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family. At an average salary of $59,267 it pays below the federal average of $109,869, and headcount grew 0.9% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 114
- Share of workforce
- 0.0%
- Avg salary
- $59,267
- Avg tenure
- 14.7 yrs
What the Numbers Say About Deck Engineer-Machinist
As of the March 2025 reporting window, 114 people work in the Deck Engineer-Machinist occupation (OPM code 9952) across federal agencies, 0.0% of the 2,289,472-strong federal civilian workforce. Headcount moved up by 0.9% from 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.
Average tenure in Deck Engineer-Machinist runs 14.7 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Pay averages $59,267 per year, 46.1% below the $109,869 federal civilian average and up 0.0% from the prior period, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change.
Deck Engineer-Machinist sits inside the Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family (code 99), which contains 51 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Deck Engineer-Machinist 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 Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System) family, Deck Engineer-Machinist ranks #16 of 51 by headcount, accounting for 1.9% of the family's combined 6,135 employees.
Employees
114
+0.9% from prior period
Average Salary
$59,267
+0.0%
Avg Length of Service
14.7 yrs
Occupation Family
Vessel Jobs Family (excluded From the Federal Wage System)
Salary Context
How Deck Engineer-Machinist pay compares to the federal average of $109,869
Occupation Average
$59,267
Federal Average
$109,869
vs. Federal Avg
-46.1%
Where Deck Engineer-Machinist ranks on federal pay
Its average salary of $59,267 is higher than 15% of federal occupation series (98 of 634). The highlighted bar marks where Deck Engineer-Machinist sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 634 federal occupation series; Deck Engineer-Machinist ranks higher than 15%.
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 | 748 | $38,354 | 4.7 yrs |
| Ordinary Seaman | 712 | $38,310 | 1.7 yrs |
| Able Seaman-Maintenance | 528 | $55,876 | 11.7 yrs |
| Wiper | 256 | $42,135 | 2.5 yrs |
| Engine Utilityman | 254 | $49,916 | 8.1 yrs |
| Able Seaman | 225 | $58,397 | 12.6 yrs |
| Boatswain's Mate | 175 | $61,606 | 17.2 yrs |
| Third Assistant Engineer | 174 | $91,616 | 6.6 yrs |
| Second Assistant Engineer | 170 | $112,614 | 12.6 yrs |
| Third Officer | 163 | $83,457 | 4.3 yrs |
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FedScope Employment Cubes, March 2025. Federal civilian non-seasonal full-time and part-time employees. Data does not include military personnel, postal workers, or intelligence agency staff. Last updated: 2026-03-10.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
PlainGovJobs is rendered directly from OPM FedScope federal-workforce data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on OPM FedScope occupation-level employment records. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.