Most readers would prefer to have a job in an agency that has a larger number of high federal employee salaries. Of course, how one defines a “high salary” depends on skills an individual brings into a federal agency.
Average Federal Employee Salaries
How much do federal employees make in a federal salary each year? According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), at the end of June 2021, the average federal salary was $91,645. The average American salary in 2020 was $56,310. $129,250 is the average federal employee salary in the Washington, DC locality pay area as of June 2021.
While these averages are high compared to most Americans, most of us want to be above average. In particular, most of us want to have a higher than average salary.
Where does a person go to seek out the highest federal employee salaries?
One place to start is by looking at the list of agencies that hire the largest number of higher-paid employees. While your definition of a highly paid employee may be different, here is a list of the agencies with the most employees that receive a salary of at least $100,000 or more per year. The federal benefits package is above and beyond what an employee receives each year in salary.
For those seeking to find individual federal employee salaries, the data in this article is from FedsDataCenter.com. Individual federal employee salaries are also available on that website and this article explains how to more easily find an individual federal employee’s salary using the search engine on that website.
Readers wanting to see which agencies have the highest and lowest average for federal employee salaries can find this information at Where Federal Salary is $37,605 Higher —And Why This is Important.
Agencies With Most Federal Employee Salaries of $100,000+ Per Year
# of $100,000+ Employees | Agency |
109,214 | DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS |
70,370 | DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY |
51,145 | DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE |
46,238 | DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES |
36,967 | DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION |
32,843 | DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY |
26,880 | DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE |
17,948 | DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE |
16,186 | DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR |
15,679 | SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION |
14,571 | NATIONAL AERONAUTICS & SPACE ADMINISTRATION |
11,637 | ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY |
9660 | DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY |
8191 | DEPARTMENT OF STATE |
7750 | GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION |
7659 | DEPARTMENT OF LABOR |
6008 | DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT |
4366 | SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION |
4335 | FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION |
3398 | AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT |
501,145 | Total Number |
Agencies With Most Federal Employee Salaries of $200,000+ Per Year
For those employees who are seeking a higher salary, there are a number of agencies employing people and paying a salary of $200,000 per year or more. Here is a listing sorted with the largest number of employees making over $200,000 listed first.
# of $200,000+ Employees | Agency |
28,186 | DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS |
2806 | DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES |
2701 | SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION |
1392 | FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION |
786 | DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY |
382 | DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE |
332 | COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION |
251 | FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY |
243 | FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM |
41 | DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY |
25 | FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION |
19 | DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION |
12 | DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE |
12 | ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY |
8 | NATIONAL AERONAUTICS & SPACE ADMINISTRATION |
8 | PRESIDIO TRUST |
6 | ARMED FORCES RETIREMENT HOME |
5 | FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION |
2 | DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY |
1 | OFFICE OF U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE |
36,836 | TOTAL NUMBER |
Occupations With Highest Average Federal Employee Salaries
Agencies that have the highest average for federal employee salaries often have the highest number of employees in occupations that support higher salaries. With this in mind, here is a list of federal occupations with the highest average salaries.
Occupation | Average Salary |
Medical Officer | $250,978 |
Securities Compliance Examining | $199,911 |
Dental Officer | $192,476 |
Administrative Law Judge | $178,224 |
Patent Attorney | $172,408 |
Patent Administration | $170,328 |
Technical Systems Program Manager | $162,582 |
Chief Engineer | $161,062 |
Podiatrist | $152,591 |
It is not surprising that occupations in the medical field are prominent in this list.