Forestry
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Forestry occupation series (code 0460).
The verdict
With 1,626 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce), Forestry ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Biological Sciences Group family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $88,902 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.6%
- Pay change
- -0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 15.1 yrs
- Rank in family
- #9 of 31
FedScope read on Forestry (dense series)
Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. Pay moved down 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 long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
The Biological Sciences Group family (code 04) groups Forestry together with 30 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Forestry postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Biological Sciences Group family. Across the Biological Sciences Group family, 67,961 employees work in 31 occupations; Forestry is 2.4% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (29th percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Forestry pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$88,902
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-24.2%
Where Forestry ranks on federal pay
Forestry earns more on average than 45% of federal occupation series (241 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Forestry sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Forestry.
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 |
| Fish Biology | 1,629 | $116,550 | 16.2 yrs |
| Microbiology | 1,629 | $143,306 | 16.3 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 Forestry 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 (1,626 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($88,902 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Forestry 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 Forestry 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.