Social Science
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Social Science occupation series (code 0101): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Social Science is a mid-sized federal occupation: 13,513 employees (0.7% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family. At an average salary of $109,039 it pays near the federal average, and headcount edged down from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- -0.5%
- Pay change
- +0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 11.8 yrs
- Rank in family
- #3 of 29
FedScope read on Social Science (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.
The Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family (code 01) groups Social Science together with 28 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Social Science postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family. Across the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family, 101,196 employees work in 29 occupations; Social Science is 13.4% of that headcount. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (37th percentile) of pay among Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Social Science pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$109,039
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-7.1%
Where Social Science ranks on federal pay
Social Science earns more on average than 60% of federal occupation series (326 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Social Science sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Social Science.
Related Occupations in Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Insurance Administration | 24,044 | $105,855 | 17.7 yrs |
| Social Work | 22,339 | $112,147 | 10 yrs |
| Intelligence | 12,860 | n/a | 15 yrs |
| Psychology | 10,259 | $144,240 | 10.7 yrs |
| Economist | 3,774 | $158,425 | 14.1 yrs |
| Foreign Affairs | 2,748 | $155,920 | 14.4 yrs |
| Health Insurance Administration | 2,443 | $149,476 | 15.3 yrs |
| Social Science Aid and Technician | 1,534 | $67,632 | 12.4 yrs |
| Archeology | 1,448 | $91,675 | 12 yrs |
| Social Services Aid and Assistant | 962 | $59,911 | 11.7 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Social Science outside the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare 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 (13,513 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($109,039 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Social Science 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 Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Social Science 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.