Year-Over-Year Trends in Federal Occupations for 2025

Findings

109,716 Employees in Nursing

The OPM FedScope dataset logs 109,716 employees in nursing occupations for 2025, down slightly from 110,804 the prior year, within the Medical Hospital Group where average salaries hit $128,375.OPM FedScope — Occupation Trends Report, 2025 This figure spans multiple sub-roles under nursing, recording a net adjustment amid broader medical field expansion. Nursing roles specifically in VA agencies registered a gain of 1,088 employees, paired with salary increases of 3% reaching that $128,375 mark.U.S. Office of Personnel Management — Salary Surveys, 2025 Average service length stands at 9.2 years for these 109,716 nursing personnel across the 634 total occupations. Nursing Occupation Details page breaks down shifts by pay grade and location, joining to states like California where medical salaries average $124,117.

Medical occupations overall tallied 356,984 employees after adding 1,000, linking to nursing as a key component with 45 sub-occupations documented.OPM FedScope — Occupation Trends Report, 2025 In 2025, medical roles incorporated another 2,000 positions at that $124,117 average, reflecting patterns in high-demand series. Defense agencies captured 5,000 shifts among top occupations, which hold 20% of total employee changes, including nursing upticks. The FedScope employment cubes enable queries on these counts via occupation codes, revealing VA-specific nursing growth against the slight national dip to 109,716.

Nursing data integrates with 2.2 million total employees across 634 occupations, where nursing represents a stable segment despite the 1% rise noted in VA contexts.Bureau of Labor Statistics — Annual Employment Data, 2025 Personnel records show 9.2 years tenure tying to retention metrics in hospital groups. Geographic distribution columns in FedScope allow state-level views, such as Texas trends linking to broader medical salary norms of $124,117 in places like California.

111,646 Administrative Employees Decline

Miscellaneous administration roles fell to 111,646 employees in 2025 from 113,373 in 2024, averaging 13.5 years of service particularly in VA agencies.OPM FedScope — Occupation Trends Report, 2025 This drop aligns with administrative positions losing 1,727 workers overall, impacting that 111,646 count. General administrative family encompasses 28 sub-occupations, down 2% to 339,466 employees total.U.S. Office of Personnel Management — Salary Surveys, 2025 The 1% decline in this family affects staffing across all states, with service lengths at 13.5 years for many in the miscellaneous segment.

FedScope tables aggregate these changes within the 10,000 net shifts across 634 occupations, where administrative categories logged down 1.5% movements.Bureau of Labor Statistics — Annual Employment Data, 2025 Top occupations, covering 20% of changes, include these administrative losses totaling portions of the 5,000 defense agency adjustments. VA Agency Trends page details how 13.5 years average tenure persists amid the 111,646 headcount reduction in miscellaneous roles.

The general administrative family's 339,466 employees span 28 sub-occupations, with declines measured against prior snapshots showing the 1% drop.OPM FedScope — Occupation Trends Report, 2025 Administrative data joins to agency breakdowns, highlighting VA impacts on service years at 13.5. Overall federal workforce of 2.2 million frames these reductions, as occupation series codes track the 1,727 losses precisely.

$110,949 Salary Trends Across Families

General administrative family averages $110,949 in salaries for its 339,466 employees across 28 occupations, amid the 1% decline.OPM FedScope — Occupation Trends Report, 2025 Top occupations saw average pay rise by $3,000 to $116,121 specifically for 111,646 administrative employees. Nursing in the Medical Hospital Group reached $128,375, up 3% in VA contexts with 109,716 staff.U.S. Office of Personnel Management — Salary Surveys, 2025 Medical occupations averaged $124,117 for 356,984 employees after growth of 1,000 and additional 2,000 roles tied to 45 sub-occupations.

These salary figures derive from FedScope pay plan columns, normalized across states including California at $124,117 for medical roles.Bureau of Labor Statistics — Annual Employment Data, 2025 The $3,000 increase to $116,121 covers administrative shifts, contrasting nursing gains to $128,375. Yearly Trends Overview charts these elevations against 10,000 net employee changes in 634 occupations. Defense agencies' 5,000 shifts, 20% from top groups, incorporate such compensation upticks.

Average salaries in nursing hit $128,375 with 9.2 years service for 109,716, while administrative at $110,949 holds steady for the 339,466 count.OPM FedScope — Occupation Trends Report, 2025 Medical family's $124,117 spans 45 sub-occupations, linking to geographic pay variations in datasets covering all states. The $116,121 mark for 111,646 administrative roles reflects broader trends in 2.2 million total personnel.

Coverage and Limitations

OPM FedScope provides the core dataset for these findings, drawing from quarterly employment snapshots aggregated into annual Occupation Trends Reports with a 2025 vintage capturing September payroll data.OPM FedScope — Occupation Trends Report, 2025 Release cadence follows federal fiscal year ends, typically October updates for prior-year closes, enabling year-over-year comparisons like the shifts from 2024 to 2025 across 634 occupations and 2.2 million employees. Revisions occur in subsequent vintages, flagged via change logs in metadata files where prior submissions get superseded by corrected agency inputs, such as adjusted headcounts in nursing from 110,804 to refined totals.

Snapshot vintages differ from live API feeds, as FedScope cubes represent point-in-time extractions without real-time ingests, focusing on end-of-quarter rosters for occupations like the 109,716 in nursing or 111,646 administrative roles.U.S. Office of Personnel Management — Salary Surveys, 2025 Normalization processes standardize pay grades, service computations, and agency codes during ETL pipelines, but exclude temporary excepted service, contractors, and non-appropriated fund positions, limiting scope to permanent civilian workforce only. Geographic coverage spans all states via state codes, yet granular Census tract or metro-statistical-area breakdowns remain aggregated at state-level for privacy under FOIA exemptions.

Coverage gaps stem from voluntary agency reporting delays, omitting certain small-series occupations below reporting thresholds, though core families like general administrative with 28 sub-occupations and medical with 45 achieve near-complete inclusion up to 356,984 employees.Bureau of Labor Statistics — Annual Employment Data, 2025 Data pipeline incorporates validation against payroll systems, with revision histories accessible in FedScope metadata downloads detailing audit trails for changes like the 1,727 administrative losses. Upstream OPM enforces GS pay plan locality adjustments, reflected in averages such as $124,117 for California medical roles, but excludes military or postal service personnel.

Cross-references enhance utility: Occupation Rankings Page pulls FedScope series for top-20% changes covering 5,000 defense shifts, while state pages like /states/tx/ integrate BLS occupational employment stats for validation. Methodology constraints preserve raw submissions without imputation, ensuring verbatim reproduction of 10,000 net changes and salary rises like $3,000 to $116,121. Public-records protocols under 5 U.S.C. § 552 govern access, with bulk downloads supporting custom aggregates on tenure like 13.5 years in VA or 9.2 in nursing. Vintage controls prevent mixing periods, as 2025 data supersedes 2024 without backward propagation unless explicitly revised in OPM bulletins. These elements frame the 634 occupations comprehensively, highlighting strengths in agency-specific views like VA nursing gains of 1,088 amid limitations on non-civilian inclusions.

Linkages across nursing at 109,716 employees with $128,375 salaries, administrative declines to 111,646 at 13.5 years service, general family averages of $110,949 for 339,466, and medical growth to 356,984 at $124,117 reveal patterned federal workforce adjustments in the OPM FedScope 2025 vintage, underscoring 10,000 net changes across 634 occupations where top segments drive 20% of movements including 5,000 defense shifts, as detailed in Yearly Trends Overview.