Police
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Police occupation series (code 0083): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
In the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family, Police counts 11,883 employees, a mid-sized federal occupation at 0.6% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 7.5% from the prior period; pay averages n/a, which pays below the federal-wide $117,339.
- Employees
- 11,883
- Share of workforce
- 0.6%
- Avg salary
- n/a
- Avg tenure
- 12.2 yrs
FedScope read on Police (dense series)
As of the June 2026 reporting window, 11,883 people work in the Police occupation (OPM code 0083) across federal agencies, 0.6% of the 1,953,300-strong federal civilian workforce. Headcount moved down by -7.5% from 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.
Police pays n/a per year on average, moving down 0.0% from the prior period (a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change). Employees in this role stay an average of 12.2 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
The Miscellaneous Occupations Group family (code 00) groups Police together with 26 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Police postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family.
Within the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family, Police is one of the top 27 occupations by headcount (#3), accounting for 12.9% of the family's combined 92,278 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (0th percentile) of pay among Miscellaneous Occupations Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Police pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
n/a
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-100.0%
Where Police ranks on lean federal pay
Its average salary of n/a is higher than 0% of federal occupation series (0 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Police sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; Police ranks higher than 0%.
Related Occupations in Miscellaneous Occupations Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security Administration | 15,507 | $125,293 | 15.4 yrs |
| Correctional Officer | 14,821 | n/a | 10.3 yrs |
| Emergency Management Specialist | 11,832 | $100,833 | 9.7 yrs |
| Fire Protection and Prevention | 8,848 | $74,762 | 14.6 yrs |
| Safety and Occupational Health Management | 5,704 | $117,177 | 16.3 yrs |
| Park Ranger | 5,202 | $75,210 | 10.6 yrs |
| Security Guard | 4,312 | $57,464 | 11.3 yrs |
| Environmental Protection Specialist | 4,157 | $127,481 | 15.2 yrs |
| Security Clerical and Assistance | 3,340 | $65,477 | 12.7 yrs |
| Correctional Institution Administration | 1,677 | $122,358 | 19.4 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Police outside the Miscellaneous Occupations 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 (11,883 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families (n/a here).
Key takeaways
- Police pays below the federal average by 100.0% (n/a vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 0th percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A mid-sized federal occupation by headcount: 11,883 employees, 0.6% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 7.5% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, Police ranks #41 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Within the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family, Police is one of the top 27 occupations by headcount (#3), accounting for 12.9% of the family's combined 92,278 employees.
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.