Industrial Engineering

What the Numbers Say About Industrial Engineering

0.0% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Industrial Engineering occupation (OPM code 896): 874 people, headcount down -3.6% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.

Industrial Engineering pays $125,960 per year on average, 14.6% above the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 3.5% 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 12.2 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 8, the Engineering and Architecture Group family, is where the federal government classifies Industrial Engineering alongside 28 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Industrial Engineering 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 Engineering and Architecture Group family, Industrial Engineering ranks #21 of 29 by headcount, accounting for 0.6% of the family's combined 142,526 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (45th percentile) of pay among Engineering and Architecture Group occupations.