Secretary

What the Numbers Say About Secretary

Federal agencies employ 7,494 people in the Secretary occupation (OPM code 318), accounting for 0.3% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -3.4% 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.

Secretary pays $63,224 per year on average, 42.5% below the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 1.9% from the prior period (a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement). Employees in this role stay an average of 13.4 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 3, the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family, is where the federal government classifies Secretary alongside 27 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Secretary postings should also review these sibling occupations, since federal hiring managers often cross-post positions across closely related codes when recruitment is difficult. All figures here come directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes, the same official source referenced in federal workforce planning, budget justifications, and GAO reports.

Within the General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group family, Secretary ranks #7 of 28 by headcount, accounting for 2.2% of the family's combined 339,466 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (36th percentile) of pay among General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services Group occupations.