Fire Protection and Prevention
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Fire Protection and Prevention occupation series (code 0081).
The verdict
With 8,848 employees (0.5% of the federal civilian workforce), Fire Protection and Prevention ranks as a mid-sized federal occupation within the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family, and headcount declined from the prior period. Its average salary of $74,762 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -1.7%
- Pay change
- +0.3%
- Avg tenure
- 14.6 yrs
- Rank in family
- #5 of 27
FedScope read on Fire Protection and Prevention (dense series)
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. Pay moved up 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 mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
Fire Protection and Prevention sits inside the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family (code 00), which contains 27 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Fire Protection and Prevention postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family. Fire Protection and Prevention makes up 9.6% of the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family's 92,278 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (29th percentile) of pay among Miscellaneous Occupations Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Fire Protection and Prevention pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$74,762
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-36.3%
Where Fire Protection and Prevention ranks on lean federal pay
Fire Protection and Prevention earns more on average than 31% of federal occupation series (168 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Fire Protection and Prevention sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Fire Protection and Prevention.
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 |
| 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 |
| Environmental Protection Specialist | 4,157 | $127,481 | 15.2 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 Fire Protection and Prevention 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 (8,848 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($74,762 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Fire Protection and Prevention 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 Fire Protection and Prevention 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.