Heat Treating
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Heat Treating occupation series (code 3712).
The verdict
With 46 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Heat Treating ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Metal Processing Family family, and headcount grew from the prior period. Its average salary of $79,709 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- +2.2%
- Pay change
- -0.5%
- Avg tenure
- 16.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 9
FedScope read on Heat Treating (thin series)
For job seekers weighing career length: 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 up 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. As for pay, the latest move was a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement.
Heat Treating sits inside the Metal Processing Family family (code 37), which contains 9 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Heat Treating postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Metal Processing Family family. Across the Metal Processing Family family, 3,792 employees work in 9 occupations; Heat Treating is 1.2% of that headcount.
Salary Context
How Heat Treating pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$79,709
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-32.1%
Where Heat Treating ranks on federal pay
Heat Treating earns more on average than 36% of federal occupation series (194 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Heat Treating sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Heat Treating.
Related Occupations in Metal Processing Family
8 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welding | 2,325 | $87,563 | 11.4 yrs |
| Non-Destructive Testing | 904 | $98,385 | 10.1 yrs |
| Electroplating | 272 | n/a | 10.7 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Metal Processing | 102 | n/a | 12.4 yrs |
| Metalizing | 70 | n/a | 14.8 yrs |
| Shot Peening Machine Operating | 54 | n/a | 16.9 yrs |
| Battery Repairing | 13 | $72,252 | 19.5 yrs |
| Buffing and Polishing | 6 | $84,749 | 16.4 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this thin headcount
Two peer sets for Heat Treating outside the Metal Processing Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar thin headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (46 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($79,709 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Heat Treating 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 Metal Processing Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Heat Treating 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.