Patent Adviser
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Patent Adviser occupation series (code 1221).
The verdict
With 7 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Patent Adviser ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family. Its average salary of $160,445 pays well above the federal average.
- Headcount change
- 0.0%
- Pay change
- 0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 10.6 yrs
- Rank in family
- #6 of 7
FedScope read on Patent Adviser (thin series)
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Headcount moved sideways versus the prior period, though at this small a headcount, year-to-year swings can reflect a handful of hires or departures rather than a broad hiring trend. As for pay, the latest move was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change.
The Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family (code 12) groups Patent Adviser together with 6 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Patent Adviser postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family. Across the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family, 10,490 employees work in 7 occupations; Patent Adviser is 0.1% of that headcount.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Patent Adviser pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$160,445
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+36.7%
Where Patent Adviser ranks on rich federal pay
Patent Adviser earns more on average than 94% of federal occupation series (511 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Patent Adviser sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Patent Adviser.
Related Occupations in Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group
6 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patent Examining | 9,385 | $157,963 | 14.3 yrs |
| Patent Attorney | 373 | $202,357 | 17.8 yrs |
| Design Patent Examining | 365 | $137,602 | 9.3 yrs |
| Patent Administration | 322 | $199,503 | 24.1 yrs |
| Patent Classifying | 33 | $189,888 | 21.5 yrs |
| Patent Technician | 5 | $95,669 | 29 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this thin headcount
Two peer sets for Patent Adviser outside the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar thin headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (7 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($160,445 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Patent Adviser 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 Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Patent Adviser 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.