Maintenance Mechanic
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Maintenance Mechanic occupation series (code 4749), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 10,441 employees (0.5% of the federal civilian workforce), Maintenance Mechanic ranks as a mid-sized federal occupation within the General Maintenance and Operations Work Family family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $73,094 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.5%
- Pay change
- -0.4%
- Avg tenure
- 11.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 10
FedScope read on Maintenance Mechanic (dense 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 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 useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition.
The General Maintenance and Operations Work Family family (code 47) groups Maintenance Mechanic together with 9 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Maintenance Mechanic postings should also review these sibling occupations in the General Maintenance and Operations Work Family family. Maintenance Mechanic makes up 65.3% of the General Maintenance and Operations Work Family family's 15,982 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (11th percentile) of pay among General Maintenance and Operations Work Family occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Maintenance Mechanic pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$73,094
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-37.7%
Where Maintenance Mechanic ranks on lean federal pay
Maintenance Mechanic earns more on average than 29% of federal occupation series (159 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Maintenance Mechanic sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Maintenance Mechanic.
Related Occupations in General Maintenance and Operations Work Family
9 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Misc General Maintenance & Operations Work | 2,599 | $93,724 | 16.5 yrs |
| Utility Systems Repairing-Operating | 1,983 | $84,204 | 13.2 yrs |
| Cemetery Caretaking | 644 | $63,552 | 8.6 yrs |
| General Equipment Mechanic | 140 | $75,100 | 15.4 yrs |
| Model Making | 91 | $93,472 | 14.8 yrs |
| Boat Building and Repairing | 34 | $74,449 | 13.3 yrs |
| General Equipment Operating | 26 | $81,524 | 18.2 yrs |
| Exhibits Making/modeling | 16 | n/a | 17.5 yrs |
| Research Laboratory Mechanic | 8 | $83,825 | 13 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Maintenance Mechanic outside the General Maintenance and Operations Work Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (10,441 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($73,094 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Maintenance Mechanic 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 General Maintenance and Operations Work Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Maintenance Mechanic 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.