General Health Science

What the Numbers Say About General Health Science

0.9% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the General Health Science occupation (OPM code 601): 20,339 people, headcount down -0.8% 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.

Average tenure in General Health Science runs 9.9 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Pay averages $131,100 per year, 19.3% above the $109,869 federal civilian average and up 3.0% from the prior period, a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce.

General Health Science sits inside the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family (code 6), which contains 45 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for General Health Science 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.

General Health Science makes up 5.7% of the 356,984 employees across the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, ranking #4 of 45 occupations in that family by headcount. Its average salary ranks in the top half (78th percentile) of pay among Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group occupations.