Patent Examining
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Patent Examining occupation series (code 1224).
The verdict
With 9,385 employees (0.5% of the federal civilian workforce), Patent Examining ranks as a mid-sized federal occupation within the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group family, and headcount edged up from the prior period. Its average salary of $157,963 pays well above the federal average.
- Headcount change
- +0.5%
- Pay change
- -0.2%
- Avg tenure
- 14.3 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 7
FedScope read on Patent Examining (dense 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 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. 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 Examining together with 6 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Patent Examining 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 Examining is 89.5% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (29th percentile) of pay among Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Patent Examining pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$157,963
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+34.6%
Where Patent Examining ranks on rich federal pay
Patent Examining earns more on average than 92% of federal occupation series (499 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Patent Examining sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Patent Examining.
Related Occupations in Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Group
6 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Adviser | 7 | $160,445 | 10.6 yrs |
| Patent Technician | 5 | $95,669 | 29 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Patent Examining outside the Copyright, Patent, and Trademark 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 (9,385 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($157,963 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Patent Examining 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 Examining 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.