Environmental Protection Specialist

What the Numbers Say About Environmental Protection Specialist

0.3% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Environmental Protection Specialist occupation (OPM code 28): 5,807 people, headcount up 0.8% 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.

Environmental Protection Specialist pays $117,989 per year on average, 7.4% above the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 1.8% from the prior period (a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement). Employees in this role stay an average of 13.5 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Environmental Protection Specialist sits inside the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family (code 0), which contains 26 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Environmental Protection Specialist 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.

Inside the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family (26 occupations, 105,611 employees combined), Environmental Protection Specialist holds the #7 spot by headcount, a 5.5% share of the family total. Its average salary ranks in the top half (85th percentile) of pay among Miscellaneous Occupations Group occupations.