Environmental Protection Specialist
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Environmental Protection Specialist occupation series (code 0028), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
Environmental Protection Specialist is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 4,157 employees (0.2% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family. At an average salary of $127,481 it pays above the federal average, and headcount declined from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- -4.6%
- Pay change
- +0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 15.2 yrs
- Rank in family
- #9 of 27
FedScope read on Environmental Protection Specialist (dense series)
For job seekers weighing career length: 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 modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. As for pay, the latest move was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change.
Environmental Protection Specialist sits inside the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family (code 00), which contains 27 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Environmental Protection Specialist postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family. The Miscellaneous Occupations Group family totals 92,278 employees, and Environmental Protection Specialist accounts for 4.5% of them. Its average salary ranks in the top half (76th percentile) of pay among Miscellaneous Occupations Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Environmental Protection Specialist pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$127,481
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+8.6%
Where Environmental Protection Specialist ranks on rich federal pay
Environmental Protection Specialist earns more on average than 73% of federal occupation series (396 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Environmental Protection Specialist sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Environmental Protection Specialist.
Related Occupations in Miscellaneous Occupations Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security Administration | 15,507 | $125,293 | 15.4 yrs |
| Correctional Officer | 14,821 | n/a | 10.3 yrs |
| Police | 11,883 | n/a | 12.2 yrs |
| Emergency Management Specialist | 11,832 | $100,833 | 9.7 yrs |
| Fire Protection and Prevention | 8,848 | $74,762 | 14.6 yrs |
| Safety and Occupational Health Management | 5,704 | $117,177 | 16.3 yrs |
| Park Ranger | 5,202 | $75,210 | 10.6 yrs |
| Security Guard | 4,312 | $57,464 | 11.3 yrs |
| Security Clerical and Assistance | 3,340 | $65,477 | 12.7 yrs |
| Correctional Institution Administration | 1,677 | $122,358 | 19.4 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Environmental Protection Specialist outside the Miscellaneous Occupations 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 (4,157 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($127,481 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Environmental Protection Specialist 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 Miscellaneous Occupations Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Environmental Protection Specialist 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.