Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant

What the Numbers Say About Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant

Federal agencies employ 45,351 people in the Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant occupation (OPM code 303), accounting for 2.0% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -3.9% 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.

Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant pays $53,871 per year on average, 51.0% below the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 2.7% 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 9.2 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant sits inside the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family (code 3), which contains 28 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant 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.

Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant makes up 13.4% of the 339,466 employees across the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family, ranking #3 of 28 occupations in that family by headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (29th percentile) of pay among General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group occupations.