Fish Biology
Everything OPM FedScope (March 2025) reports about the Fish Biology occupation series (code 482): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Fish Biology is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 1,992 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Biological Sciences Group family. At an average salary of $114,066 it pays near the federal average of $109,869, and headcount declined 1.7% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 1,992
- Share of workforce
- 0.1%
- Avg salary
- $114,066
- Avg tenure
- 15.4 yrs
What the Numbers Say About Fish Biology
Federal agencies employ 1,992 people in the Fish Biology occupation (OPM code 482), accounting for 0.1% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -1.7% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.
Fish Biology pays $114,066 per year on average, 3.8% above the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 2.5% from the prior period (a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce). Employees in this role stay an average of 15.4 years, a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
Fish Biology sits inside the Biological Sciences Group family (code 4), which contains 31 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Fish Biology 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.
Within the Biological Sciences Group family, Fish Biology ranks #6 of 31 by headcount, accounting for 2.9% of the family's combined 69,668 employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (55th percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.
Employees
1,992
-1.7% from prior period
Average Salary
$114,066
+2.5%
Avg Length of Service
15.4 yrs
Occupation Family
Biological Sciences Group
Salary Context
How Fish Biology pay compares to the federal average of $109,869
Occupation Average
$114,066
Federal Average
$109,869
vs. Federal Avg
+3.8%
Where Fish Biology ranks on federal pay
Its average salary of $114,066 is higher than 71% of federal occupation series (453 of 634). The highlighted bar marks where Fish Biology sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 634 federal occupation series; Fish Biology ranks higher than 71%.
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 | 28,385 | $115,600 | 12.4 yrs |
| Forestry Technician | 11,381 | $55,040 | 8.1 yrs |
| Biological Science Technician | 5,597 | $55,254 | 8.6 yrs |
| Soil Conservation | 4,882 | $84,996 | 12.4 yrs |
| Wildlife Biology | 2,082 | $95,599 | 15.4 yrs |
| Microbiology | 1,940 | $140,441 | 15.1 yrs |
| Wildland Fire Management | 1,908 | $69,817 | 13.2 yrs |
| Forestry | 1,870 | $86,729 | 13.4 yrs |
| Ecology | 1,260 | $118,786 | 14.3 yrs |
| Plant Protection Technician | 847 | $44,760 | 6 yrs |
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FedScope Employment Cubes, March 2025. Federal civilian non-seasonal full-time and part-time employees. Data does not include military personnel, postal workers, or intelligence agency staff. Last updated: 2026-03-10.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
PlainGovJobs is rendered directly from OPM FedScope federal-workforce data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on OPM FedScope occupation-level employment records. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.