Gardening
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Gardening occupation series (code 5003): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
In the Plant and Animal Work Family family, Gardening counts 465 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount grew from the prior period; pay averages $67,401, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- +1.3%
- Pay change
- -0.6%
- Avg tenure
- 11.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 7
What the Numbers Say About Gardening
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Headcount moved up 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. As for pay, the latest move was a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement.
The Plant and Animal Work Family family (code 50) groups Gardening together with 6 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Gardening postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Plant and Animal Work Family family. The Plant and Animal Work Family family totals 1,470 employees, and Gardening accounts for 31.6% of them.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Gardening pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$67,401
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-42.6%
Where Gardening ranks on lean federal pay
Gardening earns more on average than 23% of federal occupation series (122 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Gardening sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Gardening.
Related Occupations in Plant and Animal Work Family
6 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animal Caretaking | 307 | $58,156 | 8.7 yrs |
| Pest Controlling | 289 | $72,091 | 13 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Plant and Animal Work | 249 | $68,338 | 9.3 yrs |
| Insects Production Working | 97 | $55,565 | 8.6 yrs |
| Tree Trimming and Removing | 62 | $75,736 | 10 yrs |
| Farming | 1 | $71,083 | 28.5 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Gardening outside the Plant and Animal Work Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (465 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($67,401 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Gardening 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 Plant and Animal Work Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Gardening 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.