Forestry Technician

What the Numbers Say About Forestry Technician

Federal agencies employ 11,381 people in the Forestry Technician occupation (OPM code 462), accounting for 0.5% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -31.5% versus the prior period, a useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition.

The average salary for Forestry Technician is $55,040 per year, placing it 49.9% below the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 11.3% from the prior period, a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce. Average length of service in this role is 8.1 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 4, the Biological Sciences Group family, is where the federal government classifies Forestry Technician alongside 30 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Forestry Technician 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.

Forestry Technician makes up 16.3% of the 69,668 employees across the Biological Sciences Group family, ranking #2 of 31 occupations in that family by headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (13th percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.