Survey Technical
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Survey Technical occupation series (code 0817), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 249 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce), Survey Technical ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Engineering and Architecture Group family, and headcount grew from the prior period. Its average salary of $63,640 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- +1.2%
- Pay change
- -0.4%
- Avg tenure
- 11 yrs
- Rank in family
- #24 of 29
What the Numbers Say About Survey Technical
On pay, the move between reporting periods was 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. Headcount moved up versus the prior period, though at this small a headcount, year-to-year swings can reflect a handful of hires or departures rather than a broad hiring trend.
Survey Technical sits inside the Engineering and Architecture Group family (code 08), which contains 29 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Survey Technical postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Engineering and Architecture Group family. Survey Technical makes up 0.2% of the Engineering and Architecture Group family's 120,278 combined employees.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Survey Technical pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$63,640
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-45.8%
Where Survey Technical ranks on lean federal pay
Survey Technical earns more on average than 18% of federal occupation series (100 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Survey Technical sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Survey Technical.
Related Occupations in Engineering and Architecture Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Engineering | 27,619 | $158,941 | 16.9 yrs |
| Engineering Technical | 14,443 | $93,062 | 15.2 yrs |
| Mechanical Engineering | 12,920 | $136,601 | 11.9 yrs |
| Electronics Engineering | 12,889 | $155,270 | 16.8 yrs |
| Civil Engineering | 10,260 | $124,230 | 14.7 yrs |
| Aerospace Engineering | 8,359 | $155,848 | 14.8 yrs |
| Electronics Technical | 7,298 | $103,713 | 15.6 yrs |
| Electrical Engineering | 5,231 | $142,419 | 13.5 yrs |
| Computer Engineering | 3,753 | $160,672 | 14.2 yrs |
| Nuclear Engineering | 2,813 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Survey Technical outside the Engineering and Architecture Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (249 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($63,640 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Survey Technical 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 Engineering and Architecture Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Survey Technical 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.