Transportation Specialist
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Transportation Specialist occupation series (code 2101): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
With 8,313 employees (0.4% of the federal civilian workforce), Transportation Specialist ranks as a mid-sized federal occupation within the Transportation Group family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $123,621 pays near the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -0.6%
- Pay change
- +0.7%
- Avg tenure
- 16.6 yrs
- Rank in family
- #2 of 20
FedScope read on Transportation Specialist (dense series)
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 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 modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement.
The Transportation Group family (code 21) groups Transportation Specialist together with 19 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Transportation Specialist postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Transportation Group family. Transportation Specialist makes up 19.6% of the Transportation Group family's 42,428 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (60th percentile) of pay among Transportation Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Transportation Specialist pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$123,621
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+5.4%
Where Transportation Specialist ranks on rich federal pay
Transportation Specialist earns more on average than 70% of federal occupation series (379 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Transportation Specialist sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Transportation Specialist.
Related Occupations in Transportation Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Traffic Control | 21,627 | $153,037 | 13.7 yrs |
| Transportation Clerk and Assistant | 2,525 | $55,598 | 11.3 yrs |
| Aircraft Operation | 2,432 | $149,284 | 15.2 yrs |
| Transportation Operations | 1,900 | $105,349 | 16.3 yrs |
| Traffic Management | 1,400 | $119,205 | 15.8 yrs |
| Dispatching | 1,378 | $58,047 | 10.9 yrs |
| Technical Systems Program Manager | 672 | $191,580 | 24.5 yrs |
| Railroad Safety | 497 | $119,966 | 14.1 yrs |
| Motor Carrier Safety | 467 | $94,322 | 12 yrs |
| Aircrew Technician | 374 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Transportation Specialist outside the Transportation 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 (8,313 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($123,621 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Transportation Specialist 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 Transportation Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Transportation Specialist 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.