Librarian
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Librarian occupation series (code 1410), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
Librarian is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 660 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Library and Archives Group family. At an average salary of $129,880 it pays above the federal average of $117,339, and headcount declined 4.2% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 660
- Share of workforce
- 0.0%
- Avg salary
- $129,880
- Avg tenure
- 15.7 yrs
What the Numbers Say About Librarian
As of the June 2026 reporting window, 660 people work in the Librarian occupation (OPM code 1410) across federal agencies, 0.0% of the 1,953,300-strong federal civilian workforce. Headcount moved down by -4.2% from the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.
The average salary for Librarian is $129,880 per year. Salaries moved up by 0.1% from the prior period, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. Average length of service in this role is 15.7 years, a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
Code 14, the Library and Archives Group family, is where the federal government classifies Librarian alongside 5 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Librarian postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Library and Archives Group family.
Within the Library and Archives Group family, Librarian is one of the top 6 occupations by headcount (#2), accounting for 20.3% of the family's combined 3,259 employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (80th percentile) of pay among Library and Archives Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Librarian pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
$129,880
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+10.7%
Where Librarian ranks on rich federal pay
Its average salary of $129,880 is higher than 75% of federal occupation series (407 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Librarian sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; Librarian ranks higher than 75%.
Related Occupations in Library and Archives Group
5 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archives Technician | 1,284 | $68,544 | 14 yrs |
| Archivist | 571 | $121,113 | 15.8 yrs |
| Technical Information Services | 483 | $128,567 | 16.8 yrs |
| Library Technician | 260 | $70,783 | 16.4 yrs |
| Library and Archives Student Trainee | 1 | n/a | 1.8 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Librarian outside the Library and Archives Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (660 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($129,880 here).
Key takeaways
- Librarian pays above the federal average by 10.7% ($129,880 vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 75th percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A smaller, specialized federal occupation by headcount: 660 employees, 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 4.2% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, Librarian ranks #260 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Within the Library and Archives Group family, Librarian is one of the top 6 occupations by headcount (#2), accounting for 20.3% of the family's combined 3,259 employees.
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.