Petroleum Engineering
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Petroleum Engineering occupation series (code 0881), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
In the Engineering and Architecture Group family, Petroleum Engineering counts 278 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount edged down from the prior period; pay averages $139,629, which pays above the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- -0.4%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 13.8 yrs
- Rank in family
- #23 of 29
What the Numbers Say About Petroleum Engineering
On pay, the move between reporting periods was 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. 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.
Code 08, the Engineering and Architecture Group family, is where the federal government classifies Petroleum Engineering alongside 28 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Petroleum Engineering postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Engineering and Architecture Group family. Across the Engineering and Architecture Group family, 120,278 employees work in 29 occupations; Petroleum Engineering is 0.2% of that headcount.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Petroleum Engineering pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$139,629
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+19.0%
Where Petroleum Engineering ranks on rich federal pay
Petroleum Engineering earns more on average than 82% of federal occupation series (445 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Petroleum Engineering sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Petroleum Engineering.
Related Occupations in Engineering and Architecture Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Engineering | 27,619 | $158,941 | 16.9 yrs |
| Engineering Technical | 14,443 | $93,062 | 15.2 yrs |
| Mechanical Engineering | 12,920 | $136,601 | 11.9 yrs |
| Electronics Engineering | 12,889 | $155,270 | 16.8 yrs |
| Civil Engineering | 10,260 | $124,230 | 14.7 yrs |
| Aerospace Engineering | 8,359 | $155,848 | 14.8 yrs |
| Electronics Technical | 7,298 | $103,713 | 15.6 yrs |
| Electrical Engineering | 5,231 | $142,419 | 13.5 yrs |
| Computer Engineering | 3,753 | $160,672 | 14.2 yrs |
| Nuclear Engineering | 2,813 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Petroleum Engineering outside the Engineering and Architecture Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (278 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($139,629 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Petroleum Engineering 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 Engineering and Architecture Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Petroleum Engineering 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.