Law Clerk
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Law Clerk occupation series (code 0904): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
In the Legal and Kindred Group family, Law Clerk counts 72 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined from the prior period; pay averages $106,399, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- -15.3%
- Pay change
- +0.4%
- Avg tenure
- 1.7 yrs
- Rank in family
- #17 of 18
FedScope read on Law Clerk (thin series)
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 comparatively short average tenure, which can reflect faster turnover, a competitive private-sector alternative, or a newer program still building up its workforce. Headcount moved down 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.
The Legal and Kindred Group family (code 09) groups Law Clerk together with 17 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Law Clerk postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Legal and Kindred Group family. Across the Legal and Kindred Group family, 110,958 employees work in 18 occupations; Law Clerk is 0.1% of that headcount.
Salary Context
How Law Clerk pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$106,399
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-9.3%
Where Law Clerk ranks on federal pay
Law Clerk earns more on average than 58% of federal occupation series (315 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Law Clerk sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Law Clerk.
Related Occupations in Legal and Kindred Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Attorney | 35,986 | $177,921 | 13.6 yrs |
| Contact Representative | 29,201 | $64,454 | 9.3 yrs |
| Veterans Claims Examining | 18,099 | $92,511 | 13.3 yrs |
| General Legal and Kindred Administration | 8,711 | $82,876 | 12.3 yrs |
| Paralegal Specialist | 5,165 | $107,719 | 15.8 yrs |
| Legal Assistance | 3,326 | $69,159 | 12.5 yrs |
| Hearings and Appeals | 3,231 | n/a | 15.9 yrs |
| Passport and Visa Examining | 2,035 | $92,682 | 11.3 yrs |
| Legal Instruments Examining | 1,261 | $73,021 | 11.7 yrs |
| Administrative Law Judge | 1,189 | $208,642 | 20.7 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this thin headcount
Two peer sets for Law Clerk outside the Legal and Kindred Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar thin headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (72 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($106,399 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Law Clerk 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 Legal and Kindred Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Law Clerk 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.