Plant Protection Technician
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Plant Protection Technician occupation series (code 0421), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
In the Biological Sciences Group family, Plant Protection Technician counts 679 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount edged down from the prior period; pay averages $45,370, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- -0.6%
- Pay change
- +0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 7 yrs
- Rank in family
- #12 of 31
What the Numbers Say About Plant Protection Technician
Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. 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 comparatively short average tenure, which can reflect faster turnover, a competitive private-sector alternative, or a newer program still building up its workforce.
Code 04, the Biological Sciences Group family, is where the federal government classifies Plant Protection Technician alongside 30 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Plant Protection Technician postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Biological Sciences Group family. Plant Protection Technician makes up 1.0% of the Biological Sciences Group family's 67,961 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (3rd percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Plant Protection Technician pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$45,370
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-61.3%
Where Plant Protection Technician ranks on lean federal pay
Plant Protection Technician earns more on average than 3% of federal occupation series (15 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Plant Protection Technician sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Plant Protection Technician.
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 Protection Technician 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 (679 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($45,370 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Plant Protection Technician 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 Protection Technician 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.