Heat Treating

What the Numbers Say About Heat Treating

0.0% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Heat Treating occupation (OPM code 3712): 54 people, headcount down -3.6% 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.

Heat Treating pays $73,253 per year on average, 33.3% below the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 2.0% 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 16.5 years, a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.

Heat Treating sits inside the Metal Processing Family family (code 37), which contains 8 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Heat Treating 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.

Heat Treating makes up 1.3% of the 4,013 employees across the Metal Processing Family family, ranking #7 of 8 occupations in that family by headcount.