The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued a report on salary information for fiscal year 2013.
The average federal employee salary for the 2013 fiscal year was $79,374 and the median salary was $73,736. According to the Washington Post, in fiscal 2012, the median federal salary was $72,714—a difference of $1022 or an increase in one year of about 1.4%. While there was a pay freeze in 2012, the pay freeze did not impact promotions, within-grade increases or other types of pay freezes which accounts for much of the median pay increase.
As noted in the article Average Federal Salary Goes Up Despite Pay Freeze, the average federal salary also went up the previous year despite a pay freeze for the same or similar reasons.
The report notes that the agency with the highest average salary was the Securities and Exchange Commission with an average salary of $157,014. This table reflects those federal agencies with more than 3,000 non-seasonal full-time permanent employees for Fiscal Year 2013.
The table also includes “all other agencies” which contains all agencies not listed or agencies with less than 3,000 non-seasonal full-time permanent employees.
According to OPM, the 25th percentile in the table below reflects data for 25% of the Federal workforce with salaries less than the number listed while 75% are greater than that number. For the median, which is the 50th percentile, 50% of the Federal workforce salaries are less than the number listed while 50% are also greater than that number. The 75th percentile means 75% of the Federal workforce salaries are less than the number listed while 25% are greater than that number.
| AGENCY | AVERAGE SALARY | 25TH PERCENTILE | MEDIAN | 75TH PERCENTILE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION | $ 157,014 | $ 127,086 | $164,039 | $ 186,867 |
| FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION | $ 132,276 | $ 90,661 | $130,108 | $ 168,104 |
| NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION | $ 120,038 | $ 103,872 | $122,744 | $ 144,385 |
| NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION | $ 114,642 | $ 94,969 | $116,027 | $ 137,945 |
| ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | $ 109,416 | $ 92,653 | $109,782 | $ 126,251 |
| DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION | $ 109,064 | $ 81,823 | $108,805 | $ 134,096 |
| DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY | $ 107,322 | $ 85,525 | $105,377 | $ 129,758 |
| DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | $ 106,116 | $ 84,855 | $105,211 | $ 127,145 |
| DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT | $ 100,270 | $ 82,570 | $ 98,187 | $ 116,027 |
| DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE | $ 99,540 | $ 75,232 | $ 97,333 | $ 123,911 |
| GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION | $ 94,288 | $ 77,040 | $ 92,653 | $ 112,224 |
| DEPARTMENT OF STATE | $ 93,785 | $ 69,033 | $ 92,001 | $ 115,731 |
| DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES | $ 92,518 | $ 63,695 | $ 92,001 | $ 115,742 |
| DEPARTMENT OF LABOR | $ 88,825 | $ 71,102 | $ 87,278 | $ 106,369 |
| DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE | $ 84,725 | $ 58,707 | $ 77,368 | $ 106,358 |
| OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT | $ 81,627 | $ 61,234 | $ 80,276 | $ 97,307 |
| DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY | $ 80,358 | $ 52,192 | $ 72,493 | $ 104,551 |
| DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE | $ 78,871 | $ 51,757 | $ 75,222 | $ 97,913 |
| DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY | $ 78,675 | $ 54,492 | $ 74,854 | $ 97,920 |
| DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR | $ 76,137 | $ 54,875 | $ 72,493 | $ 92,732 |
| SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION | $ 75,343 | $ 56,566 | $ 69,545 | $ 88,349 |
| DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY | $ 74,805 | $ 50,117 | $ 75,689 | $ 91,972 |
| SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION | $ 74,291 | $ 46,843 | $ 64,548 | $ 94,837 |
| DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY | $ 72,273 | $ 50,117 | $ 65,979 | $ 89,450 |
| DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE | $ 71,860 | $ 50,431 | $ 65,196 | $ 87,804 |
| DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE | $ 71,031 | $ 53,082 | $ 66,054 | $ 84,550 |
| DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS | $ 70,785 | $ 42,671 | $ 60,189 | $ 84,146 |
| ALL OTHER AGENCIES | $ 101,541 | $ 73,439 | $ 97,936 | $ 130,656 |
The report also shows salary differences based on ethnicity and race in the federal government as displayed in this table. The explanation for the several columns are the same as for the previous table.
And, before readers question why the categories for this table are listed in this way, please direct your queries to the Office of Personnel Management. Trying to count race or ethnic background in a multi-racial society is a difficult task. Presumably, until we stop paying so much attention to race and those involved in that industry, we will end up with increasingly complex charts that will become increasingly less meaningful.
| ETHNICITY AND RACE | AVERAGE SALARY | 25TH PERCENTILE | MEDIAN | 75TH PERCENTILE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN | $ 89,377 | $ 60,890 | $84,175 | $ 109,782 |
| UNSPECIFIED | $ 89,035 | $ 68,809 | $92,001 | $ 106,358 |
| NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE | $ 82,519 | $ 55,412 | $75,737 | $ 102,879 |
| HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN | $ 76,009 | $ 53,532 | $73,396 | $ 92,001 |
| HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE | $ 73,992 | $ 52,192 | $73,396 | $ 87,278 |
| NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE | $ 72,909 | $ 50,117 | $68,809 | $ 89,450 |
| HISPANIC/LATINO | $ 72,600 | $ 50,431 | $68,702 | $ 87,278 |
| HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE | $ 70,656 | $ 46,420 | $68,352 | $ 87,157 |
| NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN | $ 70,184 | $ 46,551 | $63,148 | $ 89,033 |
| HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN | $ 68,121 | $ 46,386 | $63,507 | $ 82,359 |
| NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER | $ 66,448 | $ 46,310 | $61,853 | $ 80,069 |
| HISPANIC/LATINO & NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER | $ 65,971 | $ 46,189 | $59,459 | $ 77,720 |
| HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE | $ 65,971 | $ 46,728 | $63,148 | $ 79,780 |
| NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE | $ 64,591 | $ 41,886 | $56,688 | $ 78,314 |
Finally, which occupational categories in government have the highest and lowest salaries? Here is a listing based from the OPM data:
| OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORY | AVERAGE SALARY | 25TH PERCENTILE | MEDIAN | 75TH PERCENTILE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PROFESSIONAL | $ 101,521 | $ 74,958 | $94,583 | $ 119,238 |
| ADMINISTRATIVE | $ 90,181 | $ 69,409 | $85,343 | $ 106,369 |
| TECHNICAL | $ 50,369 | $ 41,188 | $47,254 | $ 55,187 |
| CLERICAL | $ 39,848 | $ 34,445 | $37,724 | $ 43,158 |
| OTHER WHITE COLLAR | $ 59,256 | $ 45,376 | $55,844 | $ 73,396 |
| BLUE COLLAR | $ 53,448 | $ 44,779 | $52,624 | $ 60,878 |
| UNSPECIFIED | $ 72,377 | $ 48,334 | $65,393 | $ 82,624 |
