Wildland Fire Management
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Wildland Fire Management occupation series (code 0456), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
Wildland Fire Management is a mid-sized federal occupation: 9,667 employees (0.5% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Biological Sciences Group family. At an average salary of $64,457 it pays below the federal average, and headcount grew from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +24.6%
- Pay change
- +2.0%
- Avg tenure
- 7 yrs
- Rank in family
- #3 of 31
FedScope read on Wildland Fire Management (dense series)
For job seekers weighing career length: this series shows a comparatively short average tenure, which can reflect faster turnover, a competitive private-sector alternative, or a newer program still building up its workforce. Headcount moved up 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 Biological Sciences Group family (code 04) groups Wildland Fire Management together with 30 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Wildland Fire Management postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Biological Sciences Group family. Wildland Fire Management makes up 14.2% of the Biological Sciences Group family's 67,961 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (23rd percentile) of pay among Biological Sciences Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Wildland Fire Management pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$64,457
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-45.1%
Where Wildland Fire Management ranks on lean federal pay
Wildland Fire Management earns more on average than 19% of federal occupation series (103 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Wildland Fire Management sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Wildland Fire Management.
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 |
| 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 |
| Rangeland Management | 692 | $88,317 | 14.6 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Wildland Fire Management outside the Biological Sciences 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 (9,667 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($64,457 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Wildland Fire Management 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 Wildland Fire Management 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.