Fish Biology
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Fish Biology occupation series (code 0482): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Fish Biology is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 1,629 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Biological Sciences Group family. At an average salary of $116,550 it pays near the federal average, and headcount edged up from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +0.4%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 16.2 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 31
FedScope read on Fish Biology (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 up 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.
Fish Biology sits inside the Biological Sciences Group family (code 04), which contains 31 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Fish Biology postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Biological Sciences Group family. Fish Biology makes up 2.4% of the Biological Sciences Group family's 67,961 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (55th percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Fish Biology pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$116,550
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-0.7%
Where Fish Biology ranks on federal pay
Fish Biology earns more on average than 65% of federal occupation series (351 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Fish Biology sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Fish Biology.
Related Occupations in Biological Sciences Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences | 23,662 | $124,641 | 14 yrs |
| Forestry Technician | 11,090 | $61,659 | 8.7 yrs |
| Wildland Fire Management | 9,667 | $64,457 | 7 yrs |
| Biological Science Technician | 5,212 | $56,618 | 8.9 yrs |
| Soil Conservation | 4,101 | $89,391 | 13.8 yrs |
| Wildlife Biology | 1,868 | $95,468 | 16.3 yrs |
| Microbiology | 1,629 | $143,306 | 16.3 yrs |
| Forestry | 1,626 | $88,902 | 15.1 yrs |
| Ecology | 989 | $122,664 | 16.1 yrs |
| Rangeland Management | 692 | $88,317 | 14.6 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Fish Biology outside the Biological Sciences 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 (1,629 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($116,550 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Fish Biology 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 Biological Sciences Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Fish Biology 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.