Design Patent Examining
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Design Patent Examining occupation series (code 1226), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 365 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Design Patent Examining ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $137,602 pays above the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.3%
- Pay change
- +0.8%
- Avg tenure
- 9.3 yrs
- Rank in family
- #3 of 7
What the Numbers Say About Design Patent Examining
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. Pay moved up between the two reporting periods, a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement. 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.
Design Patent Examining sits inside the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family (code 12), which contains 7 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Design Patent Examining postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family. Across the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family, 10,490 employees work in 7 occupations; Design Patent Examining is 3.5% of that headcount.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Design Patent Examining pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$137,602
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+17.3%
Where Design Patent Examining ranks on rich federal pay
Design Patent Examining earns more on average than 81% of federal occupation series (437 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Design Patent Examining sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Design Patent Examining.
Related Occupations in Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group
6 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patent Examining | 9,385 | $157,963 | 14.3 yrs |
| Patent Attorney | 373 | $202,357 | 17.8 yrs |
| Patent Administration | 322 | $199,503 | 24.1 yrs |
| Patent Classifying | 33 | $189,888 | 21.5 yrs |
| Patent Adviser | 7 | $160,445 | 10.6 yrs |
| Patent Technician | 5 | $95,669 | 29 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Design Patent Examining outside the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (365 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($137,602 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Design Patent Examining 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 Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Design Patent Examining 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.