Nursing Assistant
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Nursing Assistant occupation series (code 0621).
The verdict
Nursing Assistant is a mid-sized federal occupation: 14,498 employees (0.7% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family. At an average salary of $55,851 it pays below the federal average, and headcount edged up from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +0.1%
- Pay change
- +0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 7.8 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 45
FedScope read on Nursing Assistant (dense series)
Headcount moved up 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. 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 comparatively short average tenure, which can reflect faster turnover, a competitive private-sector alternative, or a newer program still building up its workforce.
Code 06, the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, is where the federal government classifies Nursing Assistant alongside 44 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Nursing Assistant postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family. Nursing Assistant makes up 4.3% of the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family's 339,162 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (0th percentile) of pay among Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Nursing Assistant pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$55,851
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-52.4%
Where Nursing Assistant ranks on lean federal pay
Nursing Assistant earns more on average than 10% of federal occupation series (52 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Nursing Assistant sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Nursing Assistant.
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 |
| 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 |
| Medical Technologist | 6,123 | $117,456 | 12.2 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Nursing Assistant 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 (14,498 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($55,851 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Nursing Assistant 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 Nursing Assistant 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.