Medical Instrument Technician
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Medical Instrument Technician occupation series (code 0649), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
In the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, Medical Instrument Technician counts 4,294 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.2% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount edged down from the prior period; pay averages $81,258, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- -0.3%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 10.8 yrs
- Rank in family
- #14 of 45
FedScope read on Medical Instrument Technician (dense series)
Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. Pay moved up between the two reporting periods, 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.
Medical Instrument Technician sits inside the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family (code 06), which contains 45 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Medical Instrument Technician postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family. Across the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, 339,162 employees work in 45 occupations; Medical Instrument Technician is 1.3% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (33rd percentile) of pay among Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Medical Instrument Technician pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$81,258
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-30.7%
Where Medical Instrument Technician ranks on federal pay
Medical Instrument Technician earns more on average than 37% of federal occupation series (202 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Medical Instrument Technician sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Medical Instrument Technician.
Related Occupations in Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse | 106,218 | $132,267 | 10.2 yrs |
| Medical Support Assistance | 39,856 | $58,279 | 8.2 yrs |
| Medical Officer | 34,687 | $301,569 | 11.6 yrs |
| General Health Science | 17,434 | $133,765 | 11.9 yrs |
| Practical Nurse | 16,755 | $75,898 | 10.4 yrs |
| Pharmacist | 14,529 | $167,390 | 11.1 yrs |
| Nursing Assistant | 14,498 | $55,851 | 7.8 yrs |
| Health Aid and Technician | 12,490 | $61,276 | 10.8 yrs |
| Health System Specialist | 7,966 | $110,534 | 15.9 yrs |
| Pharmacy Technician | 7,658 | $70,794 | 9.5 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Medical Instrument Technician outside the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health 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 (4,294 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($81,258 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Medical Instrument Technician 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 Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Medical Instrument Technician 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.