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OPM FedScope March 2025 Miscellaneous Occupations Group

Security Guard

Everything OPM FedScope (March 2025) reports about the Security Guard occupation series (code 85): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.

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The verdict

In the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family, Security Guard counts 4,887 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.2% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount declined 0.1% from the prior period; pay averages $55,256, which pays below the federal-wide $109,869.

Employees
4,887
Share of workforce
0.2%
Avg salary
$55,256
Avg tenure
7.9 yrs

What the Numbers Say About Security Guard

0.2% of the federal civilian workforce (2,289,472 employees total, March 2025) works in the Security Guard occupation (OPM code 85): 4,887 people, headcount down -0.1% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.

The average salary for Security Guard is $55,256 per year, placing it 49.7% below the overall federal civilian average of $109,869. Salaries moved up by 2.4% from the prior period, a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce. Average length of service in this role is 7.9 years, a comparatively short average tenure, which can reflect faster turnover, a competitive private-sector alternative, or a newer program still building up its workforce.

Code 0, the Miscellaneous Occupations Group family, is where the federal government classifies Security Guard alongside 25 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Security Guard 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 Miscellaneous Occupations Group family, Security Guard ranks #8 of 26 by headcount, accounting for 4.6% of the family's combined 105,611 employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (8th percentile) of pay among Miscellaneous Occupations Group occupations.

Employees

4,887

-0.1% from prior period

Average Salary

$55,256

+2.4%

Avg Length of Service

7.9 yrs

Occupation Family

Miscellaneous Occupations Group

Salary Context

How Security Guard pay compares to the federal average of $109,869

Occupation Average

$55,256

Federal Average

$109,869

vs. Federal Avg

-49.7%

Where Security Guard ranks on federal pay

Its average salary of $55,256 is higher than 10% of federal occupation series (66 of 634). The highlighted bar marks where Security Guard sits in the federal pay distribution.

$16,074132$63,787308$111,499167$159,21223$206,9242$254,6372
Distribution of average salary across all 634 federal occupation series (OPM FedScope) - Security Guard is in the highlighted range.

Average-salary distribution across all 634 federal occupation series; Security Guard ranks higher than 10%.

Source: OPM FedScope Employment Cubes As of March 2025

Related Occupations in Miscellaneous Occupations Group

10 other occupations in the same family

Occupation Employees Avg Salary
Security Administration 20,053 $115,362
Correctional Officer 15,996 $72,749
Police 13,676 $80,813
Emergency Management Specialist 13,667 $95,989
Fire Protection and Prevention 9,509 $67,840
Safety and Occupational Health Management 6,680 $110,678
Environmental Protection Specialist 5,807 $117,989
Security Clerical and Assistance 3,994 $60,589
Park Ranger 3,762 $85,055
Correctional Institution Administration 1,815 $123,208

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many federal employees work as Security Guard? ▾
As of March 2025, federal agencies report 4,887 employees in the Security Guard occupation, equal to 0.2% of the total federal civilian workforce.
What is the average salary for Security Guard in the federal government? ▾
Compared to the $109,869 federal-wide average, Security Guard pays 49.7% less: an average of $55,256 per year.
What occupation family does Security Guard belong to? ▾
The Miscellaneous Occupations Group family (code 0) is home to Security Guard (code 85) and 25 other occupations.
What is the average length of service for Security Guard? ▾
Federal employees in the Security Guard occupation have an average length of service of 7.9 years. The federal-wide average is 11.8 years.
Is the Security Guard workforce growing or shrinking? ▾
Since the prior reporting period, Security Guard has shed about 4 positions, a 0.1% decrease.
How does Security Guard pay compare to private sector salaries? ▾
The federal average salary for Security Guard is $55,256, 49.7% below the $109,869 federal-wide average. For private-sector benchmarks in this field, see the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program.

Data Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FedScope Employment Cubes, March 2025. Federal civilian non-seasonal full-time and part-time employees. Data does not include military personnel, postal workers, or intelligence agency staff. Last updated: 2026-03-10.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainGovJobs

PlainGovJobs is rendered directly from OPM FedScope federal-workforce data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on OPM FedScope occupation-level employment records. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.