Hydrologic Technician
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Hydrologic Technician occupation series (code 1316): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
With 1,356 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce), Hydrologic Technician ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Physical Sciences Group family. Its average salary of $76,077 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- 0.0%
- Pay change
- -0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 12.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 25
FedScope read on Hydrologic Technician (dense series)
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Headcount moved sideways versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. As for pay, the latest move was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change.
Hydrologic Technician sits inside the Physical Sciences Group family (code 13), which contains 25 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Hydrologic Technician postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Physical Sciences Group family. Across the Physical Sciences Group family, 26,960 employees work in 25 occupations; Hydrologic Technician is 5.0% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (8th percentile) of pay among Physical Sciences Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Hydrologic Technician pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$76,077
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-35.2%
Where Hydrologic Technician ranks on lean federal pay
Hydrologic Technician earns more on average than 33% of federal occupation series (176 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Hydrologic Technician sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Hydrologic Technician.
Related Occupations in Physical Sciences Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Physical Science | 8,297 | $145,078 | 14.6 yrs |
| Chemistry | 4,440 | $149,099 | 14.9 yrs |
| Meteorology | 2,494 | $123,942 | 15.9 yrs |
| Physics | 2,009 | $174,005 | 15.9 yrs |
| Physical Science Technician | 1,577 | $78,820 | 13.3 yrs |
| Hydrology | 1,524 | $116,486 | 17.1 yrs |
| Geology | 1,240 | $124,746 | 14 yrs |
| Health Physics | 746 | $146,649 | 16.4 yrs |
| Cartography | 487 | $120,890 | 16.3 yrs |
| Astronomy and Space Science | 416 | $177,819 | 18 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Hydrologic Technician outside the Physical Sciences Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (1,356 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($76,077 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Hydrologic Technician 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 Physical Sciences Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Hydrologic Technician 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.