Engineering Technical
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Engineering Technical occupation series (code 0802), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 14,443 employees (0.7% of the federal civilian workforce), Engineering Technical ranks as a mid-sized federal occupation within the Engineering and Architecture Group family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $93,062 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.2%
- Pay change
- +0.2%
- Avg tenure
- 15.2 yrs
- Rank in family
- #2 of 29
FedScope read on Engineering Technical (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 long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. 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.
The Engineering and Architecture Group family (code 08) groups Engineering Technical together with 28 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Engineering Technical postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Engineering and Architecture Group family. Engineering Technical makes up 12.0% of the Engineering and Architecture Group family's 120,278 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (7th percentile) of pay among Engineering and Architecture Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Engineering Technical pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$93,062
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-20.7%
Where Engineering Technical ranks on federal pay
Engineering Technical earns more on average than 48% of federal occupation series (259 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Engineering Technical sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Engineering Technical.
Related Occupations in Engineering and Architecture Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Engineering | 27,619 | $158,941 | 16.9 yrs |
| Mechanical Engineering | 12,920 | $136,601 | 11.9 yrs |
| Electronics Engineering | 12,889 | $155,270 | 16.8 yrs |
| Civil Engineering | 10,260 | $124,230 | 14.7 yrs |
| Aerospace Engineering | 8,359 | $155,848 | 14.8 yrs |
| Electronics Technical | 7,298 | $103,713 | 15.6 yrs |
| Electrical Engineering | 5,231 | $142,419 | 13.5 yrs |
| Computer Engineering | 3,753 | $160,672 | 14.2 yrs |
| Nuclear Engineering | 2,813 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
| Environmental Engineering | 2,429 | $139,024 | 17 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Engineering Technical outside the Engineering and Architecture 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 (14,443 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($93,062 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Engineering Technical 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 Engineering and Architecture Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Engineering Technical 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.