Dental Hygiene
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Dental Hygiene occupation series (code 0682): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Dental Hygiene is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 896 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family. At an average salary of $88,799 it pays below the federal average, and headcount edged up from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +0.2%
- Pay change
- -0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 9.8 yrs
- Rank in family
- #30 of 45
FedScope read on Dental Hygiene (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 up versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.
Dental Hygiene sits inside the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family (code 06), which contains 45 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Dental Hygiene postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family. Dental Hygiene makes up 0.3% of the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family's 339,162 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (36th percentile) of pay among Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Dental Hygiene pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$88,799
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-24.3%
Where Dental Hygiene ranks on federal pay
Dental Hygiene earns more on average than 44% of federal occupation series (240 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Dental Hygiene sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Dental Hygiene.
Related Occupations in Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse | 106,218 | $132,267 | 10.2 yrs |
| Medical Support Assistance | 39,856 | $58,279 | 8.2 yrs |
| Medical Officer | 34,687 | $301,569 | 11.6 yrs |
| General Health Science | 17,434 | $133,765 | 11.9 yrs |
| Practical Nurse | 16,755 | $75,898 | 10.4 yrs |
| Pharmacist | 14,529 | $167,390 | 11.1 yrs |
| Nursing Assistant | 14,498 | $55,851 | 7.8 yrs |
| Health Aid and Technician | 12,490 | $61,276 | 10.8 yrs |
| Health System Specialist | 7,966 | $110,534 | 15.9 yrs |
| Pharmacy Technician | 7,658 | $70,794 | 9.5 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Dental Hygiene outside the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (896 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($88,799 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Dental Hygiene 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 Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Dental Hygiene 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.