Quality Assurance
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Quality Assurance occupation series (code 1910): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
With 4,964 employees (0.3% of the federal civilian workforce), Quality Assurance ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Quality Assurance, Inspection, and Grading Group family, and headcount declined from the prior period. Its average salary of $119,613 pays near the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -42.3%
- Pay change
- +0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 16.9 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 3
FedScope read on Quality Assurance (dense series)
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. As for pay, the latest move was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change.
Code 19, the Quality Assurance, Inspection, and Grading Group family, is where the federal government classifies Quality Assurance alongside 2 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Quality Assurance postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Quality Assurance, Inspection, and Grading Group family. Across the Quality Assurance, Inspection, and Grading Group family, 7,261 employees work in 3 occupations; Quality Assurance is 68.4% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the top half (67th percentile) of pay among Quality Assurance, Inspection, and Grading Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Quality Assurance pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$119,613
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+1.9%
Where Quality Assurance ranks on rich federal pay
Quality Assurance earns more on average than 67% of federal occupation series (363 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Quality Assurance sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Quality Assurance.
Related Occupations in Quality Assurance, Inspection, and Grading Group
2 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agricultural Commodity Grading | 1,562 | $69,487 | 11.4 yrs |
| Agricultural Commodity Aid | 735 | $38,048 | 5 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Quality Assurance outside the Quality Assurance, Inspection, and Grading 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 (4,964 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($119,613 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Quality Assurance 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 Quality Assurance, Inspection, and Grading Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Quality Assurance 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.