Plant Pathology
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Plant Pathology occupation series (code 0434): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Plant Pathology is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 199 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Biological Sciences Group family. At an average salary of $137,304 it pays above the federal average, and headcount edged down from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- -0.5%
- Pay change
- +0.3%
- Avg tenure
- 15.4 yrs
- Rank in family
- #24 of 31
What the Numbers Say About Plant Pathology
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 up 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 long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
The Biological Sciences Group family (code 04) groups Plant Pathology together with 30 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Plant Pathology postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Biological Sciences Group family. Plant Pathology makes up 0.3% of the Biological Sciences Group family's 67,961 combined employees.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Plant Pathology pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$137,304
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+17.0%
Where Plant Pathology ranks on rich federal pay
Plant Pathology earns more on average than 81% of federal occupation series (436 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Plant Pathology sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Plant Pathology.
Related Occupations in Biological Sciences Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences | 23,662 | $124,641 | 14 yrs |
| Forestry Technician | 11,090 | $61,659 | 8.7 yrs |
| Wildland Fire Management | 9,667 | $64,457 | 7 yrs |
| Biological Science Technician | 5,212 | $56,618 | 8.9 yrs |
| Soil Conservation | 4,101 | $89,391 | 13.8 yrs |
| Wildlife Biology | 1,868 | $95,468 | 16.3 yrs |
| Fish Biology | 1,629 | $116,550 | 16.2 yrs |
| Microbiology | 1,629 | $143,306 | 16.3 yrs |
| Forestry | 1,626 | $88,902 | 15.1 yrs |
| Ecology | 989 | $122,664 | 16.1 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Plant Pathology outside the Biological Sciences Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (199 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($137,304 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Plant Pathology 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 Biological Sciences Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Plant Pathology 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.