Insulating
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Insulating occupation series (code 3610): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
With 567 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Insulating ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Structural and Finishing Work Family family, and headcount grew from the prior period. Its average salary of $78,342 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- +1.1%
- Pay change
- -0.2%
- Avg tenure
- 9.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 7
What the Numbers Say About Insulating
Headcount moved up versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. Pay moved down between the two reporting periods, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. On length of service, this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
The Structural and Finishing Work Family family (code 36) groups Insulating together with 6 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Insulating postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Structural and Finishing Work Family family. The Structural and Finishing Work Family family totals 949 employees, and Insulating accounts for 59.7% of them. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (33rd percentile) of pay among Structural and Finishing Work Family occupations.
Salary Context
How Insulating pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$78,342
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-33.2%
Where Insulating ranks on federal pay
Insulating earns more on average than 35% of federal occupation series (187 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Insulating sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Insulating.
Related Occupations in Structural and Finishing Work Family
6 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masonry | 241 | $72,911 | 11.7 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Structural & Finishing Work | 47 | $95,000 | 14 yrs |
| Tile Setting | 38 | $99,467 | 12.9 yrs |
| Roofing | 38 | $80,318 | 11.2 yrs |
| Cement Finishing | 10 | n/a | 16.4 yrs |
| Plastering | 8 | $73,254 | 19.2 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Insulating outside the Structural and Finishing Work Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (567 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($78,342 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Insulating 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 Structural and Finishing Work Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Insulating 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.