Nuclear Engineering

What the Numbers Say About Nuclear Engineering

0.1% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Nuclear Engineering occupation (OPM code 840): 3,000 people, headcount down -1.4% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.

The average salary for Nuclear Engineering is $128,038 per year, placing it 16.5% above the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 2.9% 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 12.1 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 8, the Engineering and Architecture Group family, is where the federal government classifies Nuclear Engineering alongside 28 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Nuclear 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.

Inside the Engineering and Architecture Group family (29 occupations, 142,526 employees combined), Nuclear Engineering holds the #11 spot by headcount, a 2.1% share of the family total. Its average salary ranks in the top half (52nd percentile) of pay among Engineering and Architecture Group occupations.