Legal Instruments Examining
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Legal Instruments Examining occupation series (code 0963), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 1,261 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce), Legal Instruments Examining ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Legal and Kindred Group family, and headcount declined from the prior period. Its average salary of $73,021 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -1.7%
- Pay change
- +0.3%
- Avg tenure
- 11.7 yrs
- Rank in family
- #9 of 18
FedScope read on Legal Instruments Examining (dense series)
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Headcount moved down 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 09, the Legal and Kindred Group family, is where the federal government classifies Legal Instruments Examining alongside 17 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Legal Instruments Examining 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; Legal Instruments Examining is 1.1% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (24th percentile) of pay among Legal and Kindred Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Legal Instruments Examining pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$73,021
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-37.8%
Where Legal Instruments Examining ranks on lean federal pay
Legal Instruments Examining earns more on average than 29% of federal occupation series (158 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Legal Instruments Examining sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Legal Instruments Examining.
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 |
| Administrative Law Judge | 1,189 | $208,642 | 20.7 yrs |
| Claims Assistance and Examining | 925 | $67,330 | 18.9 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Legal Instruments Examining outside the Legal and Kindred 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 (1,261 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($73,021 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Legal Instruments Examining 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 Legal Instruments Examining 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.