Social Services Aid and Assistant
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Social Services Aid and Assistant occupation series (code 0186), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
Social Services Aid and Assistant is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 962 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family. At an average salary of $59,911 it pays below the federal average, and headcount edged up from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +0.1%
- Pay change
- -0.0%
- Avg tenure
- 11.7 yrs
- Rank in family
- #11 of 29
FedScope read on Social Services Aid and Assistant (dense series)
Headcount moved up versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. Pay moved down between the two reporting periods, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. On length of service, this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
Code 01, the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family, is where the federal government classifies Social Services Aid and Assistant alongside 28 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Social Services Aid and Assistant postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family. Social Services Aid and Assistant makes up 1.0% of the Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group family's 101,196 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (11th percentile) of pay among Social Science, Psychology, and Welfare Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Social Services Aid and Assistant pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$59,911
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-48.9%
Where Social Services Aid and Assistant ranks on lean federal pay
Social Services Aid and Assistant earns more on average than 14% of federal occupation series (76 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Social Services Aid and Assistant sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Social Services Aid and Assistant.
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 |
| Social Science | 13,513 | $109,039 | 11.8 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 |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Social Services Aid and Assistant 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 (962 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($59,911 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Social Services Aid and Assistant 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 Services Aid and Assistant 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.