Land Surveying
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Land Surveying occupation series (code 1373): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Land Surveying is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 304 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Physical Sciences Group family. At an average salary of $108,106 it pays near the federal average.
- Headcount change
- 0.0%
- Pay change
- -0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 15.8 yrs
- Rank in family
- #16 of 25
What the Numbers Say About Land Surveying
On pay, the move between reporting periods was 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 long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. Headcount moved sideways versus the prior period, though at this small a headcount, year-to-year swings can reflect a handful of hires or departures rather than a broad hiring trend.
Land Surveying sits inside the Physical Sciences Group family (code 13), which contains 25 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Land Surveying postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Physical Sciences Group family. The Physical Sciences Group family totals 26,960 employees, and Land Surveying accounts for 1.1% of them.
Salary Context
How Land Surveying pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$108,106
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-7.9%
Where Land Surveying ranks on federal pay
Land Surveying earns more on average than 60% of federal occupation series (322 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Land Surveying sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Land Surveying.
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 |
| 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 |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Land Surveying outside the Physical Sciences Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (304 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($108,106 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Land Surveying 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 Land Surveying 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.