Secretary
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Secretary occupation series (code 0318).
The verdict
With 5,419 employees (0.3% of the federal civilian workforce), Secretary ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family, and headcount declined from the prior period. Its average salary of $66,321 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -2.1%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 14.3 yrs
- Rank in family
- #7 of 31
FedScope read on Secretary (dense series)
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Headcount moved down 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. 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 03, the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family, is where the federal government classifies Secretary alongside 30 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Secretary postings should also review these sibling occupations in the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family. Secretary makes up 2.1% of the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family's 260,640 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (41st percentile) of pay among General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Secretary pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$66,321
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-43.5%
Where Secretary ranks on lean federal pay
Secretary earns more on average than 21% of federal occupation series (114 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Secretary sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Secretary.
Related Occupations in General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous Administration and Program | 84,990 | $125,183 | 15.6 yrs |
| Management and Program Analysis | 73,337 | $134,823 | 16.7 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant | 35,782 | $53,568 | 10.4 yrs |
| Logistics Management | 20,350 | $117,169 | 15 yrs |
| Program Management | 15,235 | $178,573 | 19.9 yrs |
| Administrative Officer | 8,149 | $110,689 | 18 yrs |
| Telecommunications | 3,607 | $127,955 | 16.5 yrs |
| Management and Program Clerical and Assistance | 3,112 | $68,111 | 14 yrs |
| Government Information Specialist | 2,335 | $124,799 | 17.1 yrs |
| Support Services Administration | 1,719 | $99,850 | 16.7 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Secretary outside the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services 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 (5,419 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($66,321 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Secretary 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 General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Secretary 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.