Purchasing
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Purchasing occupation series (code 1105), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 2,225 employees (0.1% of the federal civilian workforce), Purchasing ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Business and Industry Group family, and headcount declined from the prior period. Its average salary of $59,039 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -10.1%
- Pay change
- -0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 13.1 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 25
FedScope read on Purchasing (dense series)
Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. Pay moved down 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 mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
The Business and Industry Group family (code 11) groups Purchasing together with 24 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Purchasing postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Business and Industry Group family. Purchasing makes up 2.6% of the Business and Industry Group family's 83,993 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (4th percentile) of pay among Business and Industry Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Purchasing pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$59,039
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-49.7%
Where Purchasing ranks on lean federal pay
Purchasing earns more on average than 13% of federal occupation series (73 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Purchasing sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Purchasing.
Related Occupations in Business and Industry Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contracting | 30,323 | $132,449 | 14.4 yrs |
| General Business and Industry | 25,675 | $123,489 | 14.9 yrs |
| Production Control | 5,015 | $99,508 | 14.6 yrs |
| Loan Specialist | 3,952 | $95,452 | 12.7 yrs |
| Realty | 3,282 | $112,506 | 15.3 yrs |
| Grants Management | 3,042 | $129,704 | 14.5 yrs |
| Internal Revenue Officer | 2,183 | n/a | 14.7 yrs |
| Housing Management | 1,724 | $91,096 | 12.5 yrs |
| Commissary Management | 1,174 | n/a | 19.2 yrs |
| Building Management | 986 | $122,043 | 16.3 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Purchasing outside the Business and Industry 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 (2,225 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($59,039 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Purchasing 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 Business and Industry Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Purchasing 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.