Soil Science
Drawn directly from OPM FedScope (June 2026), this page tracks headcount, average salary, tenure, and pay comparison for the Soil Science occupation series (code 0470).
The verdict
With 582 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Soil Science ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Biological Sciences Group family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $108,847 pays near the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.5%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 16.8 yrs
- Rank in family
- #13 of 31
What the Numbers Say About Soil Science
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement. Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path. 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 Biological Sciences Group family (code 04) groups Soil Science together with 30 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Soil Science postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Biological Sciences Group family. Soil Science makes up 0.9% of the Biological Sciences Group family's 67,961 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (42nd percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Soil Science pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$108,847
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-7.2%
Where Soil Science ranks on federal pay
Soil Science earns more on average than 60% of federal occupation series (325 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Soil Science sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Soil Science.
Related Occupations in Biological Sciences Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences | 23,662 | $124,641 | 14 yrs |
| Forestry Technician | 11,090 | $61,659 | 8.7 yrs |
| Wildland Fire Management | 9,667 | $64,457 | 7 yrs |
| Biological Science Technician | 5,212 | $56,618 | 8.9 yrs |
| Soil Conservation | 4,101 | $89,391 | 13.8 yrs |
| Wildlife Biology | 1,868 | $95,468 | 16.3 yrs |
| Fish Biology | 1,629 | $116,550 | 16.2 yrs |
| Microbiology | 1,629 | $143,306 | 16.3 yrs |
| Forestry | 1,626 | $88,902 | 15.1 yrs |
| Ecology | 989 | $122,664 | 16.1 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Soil Science outside the Biological Sciences Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (582 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($108,847 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Soil 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 Biological Sciences Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Soil 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.