Pharmacist
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Pharmacist occupation series (code 0660).
The verdict
With 14,529 employees (0.7% of the federal civilian workforce), Pharmacist ranks as a mid-sized federal occupation within the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $167,390 pays well above the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.3%
- Pay change
- +0.2%
- Avg tenure
- 11.1 yrs
- Rank in family
- #6 of 45
FedScope read on Pharmacist (dense series)
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, 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.
Code 06, the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, is where the federal government classifies Pharmacist alongside 44 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Pharmacist postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family. Pharmacist makes up 4.3% of the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family's 339,162 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (89th percentile) of pay among Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Pharmacist pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$167,390
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+42.7%
Where Pharmacist ranks on rich federal pay
Pharmacist earns more on average than 95% of federal occupation series (516 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Pharmacist sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Pharmacist.
Related Occupations in Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse | 106,218 | $132,267 | 10.2 yrs |
| Medical Support Assistance | 39,856 | $58,279 | 8.2 yrs |
| Medical Officer | 34,687 | $301,569 | 11.6 yrs |
| General Health Science | 17,434 | $133,765 | 11.9 yrs |
| Practical Nurse | 16,755 | $75,898 | 10.4 yrs |
| Nursing Assistant | 14,498 | $55,851 | 7.8 yrs |
| Health Aid and Technician | 12,490 | $61,276 | 10.8 yrs |
| Health System Specialist | 7,966 | $110,534 | 15.9 yrs |
| Pharmacy Technician | 7,658 | $70,794 | 9.5 yrs |
| Medical Technologist | 6,123 | $117,456 | 12.2 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Pharmacist outside the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health 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 (14,529 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($167,390 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Pharmacist 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 Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Pharmacist 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.