General Attorney
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the General Attorney occupation series (code 0905).
The verdict
General Attorney is a major federal occupation: 35,986 employees (1.8% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Legal and Kindred Group family. At an average salary of $177,921 it pays well above the federal average of $117,339, and headcount declined 1.8% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 35,986
- Share of workforce
- 1.8%
- Avg salary
- $177,921
- Avg tenure
- 13.6 yrs
FedScope read on General Attorney (dense series)
1.8% of the federal civilian workforce (1,953,300 employees total, June 2026) works in the General Attorney occupation (OPM code 0905): 35,986 people, headcount down -1.8% 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 General Attorney is $177,921 per year. Salaries moved up by 0.1% from the prior period, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. Average length of service in this role is 13.6 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
Code 09, the Legal and Kindred Group family, is where the federal government classifies General Attorney alongside 17 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for General Attorney postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Legal and Kindred Group family.
Inside the Legal and Kindred Group family (18 occupations, 110,958 employees combined), General Attorney holds the #1 spot by headcount, a 32.4% share of the family total. Its average salary ranks in the top half (88th percentile) of pay among Legal and Kindred Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How General Attorney pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
$177,921
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+51.6%
Where General Attorney ranks on rich federal pay
Its average salary of $177,921 is higher than 97% of federal occupation series (527 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where General Attorney sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; General Attorney ranks higher than 97%.
Related Occupations in Legal and Kindred Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Representative | 29,201 | $64,454 | 9.3 yrs |
| Veterans Claims Examining | 18,099 | $92,511 | 13.3 yrs |
| General Legal and Kindred Administration | 8,711 | $82,876 | 12.3 yrs |
| Paralegal Specialist | 5,165 | $107,719 | 15.8 yrs |
| Legal Assistance | 3,326 | $69,159 | 12.5 yrs |
| Hearings and Appeals | 3,231 | n/a | 15.9 yrs |
| Passport and Visa Examining | 2,035 | $92,682 | 11.3 yrs |
| Legal Instruments Examining | 1,261 | $73,021 | 11.7 yrs |
| Administrative Law Judge | 1,189 | $208,642 | 20.7 yrs |
| Claims Assistance and Examining | 925 | $67,330 | 18.9 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for General Attorney outside the Legal and Kindred 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 (35,986 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($177,921 here).
Key takeaways
- General Attorney pays well above the federal average by 51.6% ($177,921 vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 97th percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A major federal occupation by headcount: 35,986 employees, 1.8% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 1.8% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, General Attorney ranks #9 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Inside the Legal and Kindred Group family (18 occupations, 110,958 employees combined), General Attorney holds the #1 spot by headcount, a 32.4% share of the family total.
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.