Food Inspection
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Food Inspection occupation series (code 1863), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
In the Investigation Group family, Food Inspection counts 363 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined from the prior period; pay averages $60,647, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- -6.4%
- Pay change
- +0.6%
- Avg tenure
- 12.4 yrs
- Rank in family
- #17 of 20
What the Numbers Say About Food Inspection
Headcount moved down 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 up between the two reporting periods, a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement. 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.
Code 18, the Investigation Group family, is where the federal government classifies Food Inspection alongside 19 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Food Inspection postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Investigation Group family. Across the Investigation Group family, 209,389 employees work in 20 occupations; Food Inspection is 0.2% of that headcount.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Food Inspection pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$60,647
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-48.3%
Where Food Inspection ranks on lean federal pay
Food Inspection earns more on average than 15% of federal occupation series (81 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Food Inspection sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Food Inspection.
Related Occupations in Investigation Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance Inspection and Support | 53,444 | n/a | 9.8 yrs |
| Criminal Investigation | 44,633 | n/a | 14.5 yrs |
| General Inspection, Investigation, Enforcement, and Compliance Series | 44,491 | n/a | 14.8 yrs |
| Customs and Border Protection | 27,421 | n/a | 14.7 yrs |
| Border Patrol Enforcement Series | 21,781 | n/a | 13.3 yrs |
| Consumer Safety Inspection | 5,242 | $74,073 | 15.3 yrs |
| Aviation Safety | 4,206 | $143,216 | 15 yrs |
| Investigative Analysis | 2,129 | n/a | 15.9 yrs |
| Import Compliance Series | 1,104 | $126,314 | 16.5 yrs |
| Wage and Hour Investigation Series | 885 | $120,994 | 17.1 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Food Inspection outside the Investigation Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (363 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($60,647 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Food Inspection 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 Investigation Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Food Inspection 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.