Vocational Rehabilitation

What the Numbers Say About Vocational Rehabilitation

Federal agencies employ 790 people in the Vocational Rehabilitation occupation (OPM code 1715), accounting for 0.0% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -0.6% versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.

Vocational Rehabilitation pays $86,576 per year on average, 21.2% below the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 2.8% from the prior period (a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce). Employees in this role stay an average of 12.1 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 17, the Education Group family, is where the federal government classifies Vocational Rehabilitation alongside 9 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Vocational Rehabilitation postings should also review these sibling occupations, since federal hiring managers often cross-post positions across closely related codes when recruitment is difficult. All figures here come directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes, the same official source referenced in federal workforce planning, budget justifications, and GAO reports.

Inside the Education Group family (10 occupations, 41,420 employees combined), Vocational Rehabilitation holds the #7 spot by headcount, a 1.9% share of the family total. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (10th percentile) of pay among Education Group occupations.