Electronics Engineering

What the Numbers Say About Electronics Engineering

As of the March 2025 reporting window, 15,392 people work in the Electronics Engineering occupation (OPM code 855) across federal agencies, 0.7% of the 2,289,472-strong federal civilian workforce. Headcount moved down by -1.9% from 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.

Average tenure in Electronics Engineering runs 16 years, a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. Pay averages $138,107 per year, 25.7% above the $109,869 federal civilian average and up 2.3% from the prior period, a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce.

Electronics Engineering sits inside the Engineering and Architecture Group family (code 8), which contains 29 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Electronics 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, Electronics Engineering is one of the top 29 occupations by headcount (#3), accounting for 10.8% of the family's combined 142,526 employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (76th percentile) of pay among Engineering and Architecture Group occupations.