Pest Controlling
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Pest Controlling occupation series (code 5026), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
In the Plant and Animal Work Family family, Pest Controlling counts 289 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount edged down from the prior period; pay averages $72,091, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- -0.3%
- Pay change
- -0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 13 yrs
- Rank in family
- #3 of 7
What the Numbers Say About Pest Controlling
Headcount moved down 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. Pay moved down 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 mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
The Plant and Animal Work Family family (code 50) groups Pest Controlling together with 6 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Pest Controlling postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Plant and Animal Work Family family. Pest Controlling makes up 19.7% of the Plant and Animal Work Family family's 1,470 combined employees.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Pest Controlling pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$72,091
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-38.6%
Where Pest Controlling ranks on lean federal pay
Pest Controlling earns more on average than 28% of federal occupation series (154 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Pest Controlling sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Pest Controlling.
Related Occupations in Plant and Animal Work Family
6 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gardening | 465 | $67,401 | 11.9 yrs |
| Animal Caretaking | 307 | $58,156 | 8.7 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Plant and Animal Work | 249 | $68,338 | 9.3 yrs |
| Insects Production Working | 97 | $55,565 | 8.6 yrs |
| Tree Trimming and Removing | 62 | $75,736 | 10 yrs |
| Farming | 1 | $71,083 | 28.5 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Pest Controlling outside the Plant and Animal Work Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (289 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($72,091 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Pest Controlling 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 Plant and Animal Work Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Pest Controlling 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.