Materials Engineering

What the Numbers Say About Materials Engineering

0.1% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Materials Engineering occupation (OPM code 806): 1,291 people, headcount down -0.6% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.

The average salary for Materials Engineering is $146,412 per year, placing it 33.3% above the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 2.7% from the prior period, a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce. Average length of service in this role is 13.4 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

The Engineering and Architecture Group family (code 8) groups Materials Engineering together with 28 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Materials Engineering 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.

Materials Engineering makes up 0.9% of the 142,526 employees across the Engineering and Architecture Group family, ranking #14 of 29 occupations in that family by headcount. Its average salary ranks in the top half (93rd percentile) of pay among Engineering and Architecture Group occupations.