Health Physics

What the Numbers Say About Health Physics

Federal agencies employ 888 people in the Health Physics occupation (OPM code 1306), accounting for 0.0% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved up by 0.5% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.

The average salary for Health Physics is $130,197 per year, placing it 18.5% above the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 1.9% from the prior period, a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement. Average length of service in this role is 14.1 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Health Physics sits inside the Physical Sciences Group family (code 13), which contains 25 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Health Physics 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.

Health Physics makes up 2.7% of the 32,337 employees across the Physical Sciences Group family, ranking #9 of 25 occupations in that family by headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (48th percentile) of pay among Physical Sciences Group occupations.