Patent Attorney
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Patent Attorney occupation series (code 1222).
The verdict
Patent Attorney is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 373 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family. At an average salary of $202,357 it pays well above the federal average of $117,339, and headcount declined 1.3% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 373
- Share of workforce
- 0.0%
- Avg salary
- $202,357
- Avg tenure
- 17.8 yrs
What the Numbers Say About Patent Attorney
0.0% of the federal civilian workforce (1,953,300 employees total, June 2026) works in the Patent Attorney occupation (OPM code 1222): 373 people, headcount down -1.3% 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.
The average salary for Patent Attorney is $202,357 per year. Salaries moved down by -0.1% from the prior period, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. Average length of service in this role is 17.8 years, a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
The Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family (code 12) groups Patent Attorney together with 6 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Patent Attorney postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family.
Inside the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family (7 occupations, 10,490 employees combined), Patent Attorney holds the #2 spot by headcount, a 3.6% share of the family total.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Patent Attorney pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
$202,357
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+72.5%
Where Patent Attorney ranks on rich federal pay
Its average salary of $202,357 is higher than 99% of federal occupation series (534 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Patent Attorney sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; Patent Attorney ranks higher than 99%.
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 |
| 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 Adviser | 7 | $160,445 | 10.6 yrs |
| Patent Technician | 5 | $95,669 | 29 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Patent Attorney outside the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (373 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($202,357 here).
Key takeaways
- Patent Attorney pays well above the federal average by 72.5% ($202,357 vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 99th percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A smaller, specialized federal occupation by headcount: 373 employees, 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 1.3% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, Patent Attorney ranks #329 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Inside the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family (7 occupations, 10,490 employees combined), Patent Attorney holds the #2 spot by headcount, a 3.6% share of the family total.
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.