Foreign Affairs
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Foreign Affairs occupation series (code 0130): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
In the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family, Foreign Affairs counts 2,748 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.1% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined from the prior period; pay averages $155,920, which pays well above the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- -2.0%
- Pay change
- +0.3%
- Avg tenure
- 14.4 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 29
FedScope read on Foreign Affairs (dense series)
On pay, the move between reporting periods was 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. Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.
The Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family (code 01) groups Foreign Affairs together with 28 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Foreign Affairs postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family. Foreign Affairs makes up 2.7% of the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family's 101,196 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (85th percentile) of pay among Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Foreign Affairs pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$155,920
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+32.9%
Where Foreign Affairs ranks on rich federal pay
Foreign Affairs earns more on average than 91% of federal occupation series (493 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Foreign Affairs sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Foreign Affairs.
Related Occupations in Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Insurance Administration | 24,044 | $105,855 | 17.7 yrs |
| Social Work | 22,339 | $112,147 | 10 yrs |
| Social Science | 13,513 | $109,039 | 11.8 yrs |
| Intelligence | 12,860 | n/a | 15 yrs |
| Psychology | 10,259 | $144,240 | 10.7 yrs |
| Economist | 3,774 | $158,425 | 14.1 yrs |
| Health Insurance Administration | 2,443 | $149,476 | 15.3 yrs |
| Social Science Aid and Technician | 1,534 | $67,632 | 12.4 yrs |
| Archeology | 1,448 | $91,675 | 12 yrs |
| Social Services Aid and Assistant | 962 | $59,911 | 11.7 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Foreign Affairs outside the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare 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 (2,748 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($155,920 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Foreign Affairs 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 Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Foreign Affairs 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.