General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences

What the Numbers Say About General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences

As of the March 2025 reporting window, 28,385 people work in the General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences occupation (OPM code 401) across federal agencies, 1.2% of the 2,289,472-strong federal civilian workforce. Headcount moved up by 0.3% from 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.

General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences pays $115,600 per year on average, 5.2% above the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 2.2% from the prior period (a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce). Employees in this role stay an average of 12.4 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences sits inside the Biological Sciences Group family (code 4), which contains 31 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences 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.

Within the Biological Sciences Group family, General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences is the single largest occupation by headcount, accounting for 40.7% of the family's combined 69,668 employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (58th percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.