Hand Composing
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Hand Composing occupation series (code 4403).
The verdict
With 135 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Hand Composing ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Printing Family family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $102,719 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.7%
- Pay change
- +0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 15.2 yrs
- Rank in family
- #4 of 9
What the Numbers Say About Hand Composing
On pay, the move between reporting periods was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. On length of service, this series shows a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. Headcount moved down 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.
The Printing Family family (code 44) groups Hand Composing together with 8 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Hand Composing postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Printing Family family. Hand Composing makes up 13.6% of the Printing Family family's 994 combined employees.
Salary Context
How Hand Composing pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$102,719
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-12.5%
Where Hand Composing ranks on federal pay
Hand Composing earns more on average than 55% of federal occupation series (300 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Hand Composing sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Hand Composing.
Related Occupations in Printing Family
8 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bindery Working | 256 | $103,645 | 12.8 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Printing and Reproduction | 189 | $85,576 | 16 yrs |
| Letterpress Operating | 180 | $137,778 | 12 yrs |
| Intaglio Press Operating | 119 | $137,286 | 13.2 yrs |
| Offset Press Operating | 56 | $118,773 | 19.4 yrs |
| Bookbinding | 29 | $124,878 | 14 yrs |
| Platemaking | 15 | $115,980 | 19.3 yrs |
| Electrolytic Intaglio Platemaking | 15 | $142,639 | 20.1 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Hand Composing outside the Printing Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (135 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($102,719 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Hand Composing 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 Printing Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Hand Composing 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.