Safety Engineering
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Safety Engineering occupation series (code 0803): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Safety Engineering is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 340 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Engineering and Architecture Group family. At an average salary of $135,190 it pays above the federal average of $117,339, and headcount declined 5.6% from the prior period.
- Employees
- 340
- Share of workforce
- 0.0%
- Avg salary
- $135,190
- Avg tenure
- 16.5 yrs
What the Numbers Say About Safety Engineering
As of the June 2026 reporting window, 340 people work in the Safety Engineering occupation (OPM code 0803) across federal agencies, 0.0% of the 1,953,300-strong federal civilian workforce. Headcount moved down by -5.6% from the prior period, though at this small a headcount, year-to-year swings can reflect a handful of hires or departures rather than a broad hiring trend.
The average salary for Safety Engineering is $135,190 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 16.5 years, a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
Code 08, the Engineering and Architecture Group family, is where the federal government classifies Safety Engineering alongside 28 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Safety Engineering postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Engineering and Architecture Group family.
Inside the Engineering and Architecture Group family (29 occupations, 120,278 employees combined), Safety Engineering holds the #22 spot by headcount, a 0.3% share of the family total.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Safety Engineering pay compares to the federal average of $117,339
Occupation Average
$135,190
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+15.2%
Where Safety Engineering ranks on rich federal pay
Its average salary of $135,190 is higher than 79% of federal occupation series (426 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Safety Engineering sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; Safety Engineering ranks higher than 79%.
Related Occupations in Engineering and Architecture Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Engineering | 27,619 | $158,941 | 16.9 yrs |
| Engineering Technical | 14,443 | $93,062 | 15.2 yrs |
| Mechanical Engineering | 12,920 | $136,601 | 11.9 yrs |
| Electronics Engineering | 12,889 | $155,270 | 16.8 yrs |
| Civil Engineering | 10,260 | $124,230 | 14.7 yrs |
| Aerospace Engineering | 8,359 | $155,848 | 14.8 yrs |
| Electronics Technical | 7,298 | $103,713 | 15.6 yrs |
| Electrical Engineering | 5,231 | $142,419 | 13.5 yrs |
| Computer Engineering | 3,753 | $160,672 | 14.2 yrs |
| Nuclear Engineering | 2,813 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Safety Engineering outside the Engineering and Architecture Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (340 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($135,190 here).
Key takeaways
- Safety Engineering pays above the federal average by 15.2% ($135,190 vs $117,339 federal-wide), at the 79th percentile for pay among 541 tracked occupation series.
- A smaller, specialized federal occupation by headcount: 340 employees, 0.0% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 5.6% from the prior period.
- According to OPM FedScope June 2026, Safety Engineering ranks #346 of 663 federal occupation series by headcount (the same employee_count ordering as our occupations directory).
- Inside the Engineering and Architecture Group family (29 occupations, 120,278 employees combined), Safety Engineering holds the #22 spot by headcount, a 0.3% share of the family total.
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.