Legal Instruments Examining

What the Numbers Say About Legal Instruments Examining

Federal agencies employ 1,570 people in the Legal Instruments Examining occupation (OPM code 963), accounting for 0.1% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -1.3% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.

Legal Instruments Examining pays $67,013 per year on average, 39.0% below the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 2.2% 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 11.2 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 9, 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, 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 Legal and Kindred Group family, Legal Instruments Examining ranks #9 of 18 by headcount, accounting for 1.2% of the family's combined 133,580 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (22nd percentile) of pay among Legal and Kindred Group occupations.