Farming
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Farming occupation series (code 5002): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
With 1 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Farming ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Plant and Animal Work Family family. Its average salary of $71,083 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- 0.0%
- Pay change
- 0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 28.5 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 7
FedScope read on Farming (thin series)
Headcount moved sideways 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 sideways between the two reporting periods, 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.
Code 50, the Plant and Animal Work Family family, is where the federal government classifies Farming alongside 6 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Farming postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Plant and Animal Work Family family. The Plant and Animal Work Family family totals 1,470 employees, and Farming accounts for 0.1% of them.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Farming pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$71,083
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-39.4%
Where Farming ranks on lean federal pay
Farming earns more on average than 27% of federal occupation series (147 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Farming sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Farming.
Related Occupations in Plant and Animal Work Family
6 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gardening | 465 | $67,401 | 11.9 yrs |
| Animal Caretaking | 307 | $58,156 | 8.7 yrs |
| Pest Controlling | 289 | $72,091 | 13 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Plant and Animal Work | 249 | $68,338 | 9.3 yrs |
| Insects Production Working | 97 | $55,565 | 8.6 yrs |
| Tree Trimming and Removing | 62 | $75,736 | 10 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this thin headcount
Two peer sets for Farming outside the Plant and Animal Work Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar thin headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (1 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($71,083 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Farming 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 Plant and Animal Work Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Farming 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.