General Physical Science

What the Numbers Say About General Physical Science

0.5% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the General Physical Science occupation (OPM code 1301): 10,323 people, headcount up 0.9% 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 Physical Science runs 12.6 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Pay averages $138,591 per year, 26.1% above the $109,869 federal civilian average and up 1.4% from the prior period, a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement.

Code 13, the Physical Sciences Group family, is where the federal government classifies General Physical Science alongside 24 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for General Physical 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.

Inside the Physical Sciences Group family (25 occupations, 32,337 employees combined), General Physical Science holds the #1 spot by headcount, a 31.9% share of the family total. Its average salary ranks in the top half (56th percentile) of pay among Physical Sciences Group occupations.