Toolmaking
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Toolmaking occupation series (code 3416), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
Toolmaking is a smaller, specialized federal occupation: 394 employees (0.0% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Machine Tool Work Family family. At an average salary of $87,012 it pays below the federal average, and headcount grew from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +1.0%
- Pay change
- +0.3%
- Avg tenure
- 15.3 yrs
- Rank in family
- #2 of 4
What the Numbers Say About Toolmaking
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. Pay moved up 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 long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
Toolmaking sits inside the Machine Tool Work Family family (code 34), which contains 4 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Toolmaking postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Machine Tool Work Family family. Across the Machine Tool Work Family family, 3,567 employees work in 4 occupations; Toolmaking is 11.0% of that headcount.
Salary Context
How Toolmaking pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$87,012
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-25.8%
Where Toolmaking ranks on federal pay
Toolmaking earns more on average than 43% of federal occupation series (230 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Toolmaking sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Toolmaking.
Related Occupations in Machine Tool Work Family
3 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machining | 2,942 | $92,123 | 11.2 yrs |
| Miscellaneous Machine Tool Work | 230 | $91,088 | 17.2 yrs |
| Die Sinking | 1 | n/a | 19.7 yrs |
Nationwide occupation series with similar scale or pay
Two peer sets for Toolmaking outside the Machine Tool Work Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (394 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($87,012 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Toolmaking 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 Machine Tool Work Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Toolmaking 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.