Hydrologic Technician

What the Numbers Say About Hydrologic Technician

0.1% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Hydrologic Technician occupation (OPM code 1316): 1,636 people, headcount down -4.8% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.

The average salary for Hydrologic Technician is $71,877 per year, placing it 34.6% below the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 4.4% from the prior period, a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce. Average length of service in this role is 11.5 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

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, 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.

Within the Physical Sciences Group family, Hydrologic Technician ranks #7 of 25 by headcount, accounting for 5.1% of the family's combined 32,337 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (4th percentile) of pay among Physical Sciences Group occupations.