Practical Nurse
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Practical Nurse occupation series (code 0620): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Practical Nurse is a mid-sized federal occupation: 16,755 employees (0.9% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family. At an average salary of $75,898 it pays below the federal average of $117,339, and headcount grew 0.1% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 16,755
- Share of workforce
- 0.9%
- Avg salary
- $75,898
- Avg tenure
- 10.4 yrs
FedScope read on Practical Nurse (dense series)
Federal agencies employ 16,755 people in the Practical Nurse occupation (OPM code 0620), accounting for 0.9% of the total federal civilian workforce of 1,953,300 for the June 2026 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved up by 0.1% 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.
The average salary for Practical Nurse is $75,898 per year. Salaries moved up by 0.1% from the prior period, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. Average length of service in this role is 10.4 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
The Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family (code 06) groups Practical Nurse together with 44 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Practical Nurse postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family.
Within the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, Practical Nurse ranks #5 of 45 by headcount, accounting for 4.9% of the family's combined 339,162 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (31st percentile) of pay among Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Practical Nurse pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
$75,898
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-35.3%
Where Practical Nurse ranks on lean federal pay
Its average salary of $75,898 is higher than 32% of federal occupation series (173 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Practical Nurse sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; Practical Nurse ranks higher than 32%.
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 |
| Pharmacist | 14,529 | $167,390 | 11.1 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 Practical Nurse 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 (16,755 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($75,898 here).
Key takeaways
- Practical Nurse pays below the federal average by 35.3% ($75,898 vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 32nd percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A mid-sized federal occupation by headcount: 16,755 employees, 0.9% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount grew 0.1% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, Practical Nurse ranks #27 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Within the Medical, Hospital, Dental, and Public Health Group family, Practical Nurse ranks #5 of 45 by headcount, accounting for 4.9% of the family's combined 339,162 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.