Hydrology
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Hydrology occupation series (code 1315).
The verdict
Hydrology is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 1,524 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Physical Sciences Group family. At an average salary of $116,486 it pays near the federal average, and headcount edged up from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +0.3%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 17.1 yrs
- Rank in family
- #6 of 25
FedScope read on Hydrology (dense 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, 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.
Code 13, the Physical Sciences Group family, is where the federal government classifies Hydrology alongside 24 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Hydrology postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Physical Sciences Group family. The Physical Sciences Group family totals 26,960 employees, and Hydrology accounts for 5.7% of them. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (25th percentile) of pay among Physical Sciences Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Hydrology pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$116,486
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-0.7%
Where Hydrology ranks on federal pay
Hydrology earns more on average than 65% of federal occupation series (350 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Hydrology sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Hydrology.
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 |
| Hydrologic Technician | 1,356 | $76,077 | 12.9 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 Hydrology 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 (1,524 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($116,486 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Hydrology 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 Hydrology 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.