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Ranking

Federal agencies by average salary

By average salary, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ranks first with $249,505 in August 2026, according to OPM.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission had the highest average published salary of any agency in August 2026: $249,505, the mean over 514 of its 571 employees. The government-wide mean is $120,298 over 999,162 employees; OPM withheld the salary of 957,032.

Average (mean) annual salary, where published · August 2026

Rate denominator: Employees with a published annual salary, beside each figure.

1 more column on a wider screen

Average (mean) annual salary, where published, August 2026
RankNameFigure
1Commodity Futures Trading Commission$249,505
2Securities and Exchange Commission$237,621
3Federal Reserve System$197,794
4Federal Housing Finance Agency$188,669
5Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board$187,631
6Millennium Challenge Corporation$185,668
7Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation$181,475
8Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency$179,594
9Surface Transportation Board$175,677
10Federal Trade Commission$175,284
11Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board$173,741
12Federal Communications Commission$172,889
13The US Semiquincentennial Commission$171,350
14Office of Management and Budget$171,108
15Office of the U.S. Trade Representative$170,535
16Federal Labor Relations Authority$169,799
17Merit Systems Protection Board$168,655
18International Joint Commission: United States and Canada$167,455
19National Science Foundation$165,164
20Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board$164,381
21Development Finance Corporation$164,256
22National Transportation Safety Board$162,457
23U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness$162,355
24Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission$162,099
25National Council on Disability$161,882
26Commission of Fine Arts$161,762
27U.S. Agency for International Development$160,640
28U.S. International Trade Commission$160,135
29Office of Government Ethics$160,060
30Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board$159,790
31Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation$159,317
32Nuclear Regulatory Commission$158,693
33Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission$158,689
34Export-Import Bank of the United States$158,467
35Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board$158,231
36Federal Maritime Commission$156,874
37Consumer Product Safety Commission$156,340
38Trade and Development Agency$155,898
39Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council$155,077
40Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service$155,033
41Denali Commission$154,775
42Office of National Drug Control Policy$154,647
43National Mediation Board$154,198
44Office of Special Counsel$153,661
45Office of the National Cyber Director$153,527
46Advisory Council on Historic Preservation$152,792
47Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled$152,336
48Council on Environmental Quality/Office of Environmental Quality$152,071
49Department of Education$151,344
50National Aeronautics and Space Administration$151,062
51National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities$150,546
52Department of Energy$149,890
53National Labor Relations Board$149,547
54Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council$148,730
55Marine Mammal Commission$148,470
56Peace Corps$148,231
57Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council$147,569
58Department of Housing and Urban Development$145,747
59Inter-American Foundation$145,232
60Federal Election Commission$145,166
61Department of Transportation$144,156
62Office of Science and Technology Policy$144,155
63U.S. Agency for Global Media$144,134
64National Capital Planning Commission$143,373
65Presidio Trust$142,545
66U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum$141,504
67Environmental Protection Agency$141,035
68Administrative Conference of the United States$140,522
69National Security Council$139,451
70Department of Health and Human Services$139,241
71Department of State$138,872
72Civil Rights Cold Case Review Board$136,064
73General Services Administration$135,841
74Election Assistance Commission$134,584
75Commission on Civil Rights$133,891
76Government Publishing Office$132,694
77Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation$132,276
78Office of Administration$131,360
79Department of Commerce$129,997
80Department of Labor$129,798
81Selective Service System$129,585
82Judicial Branch$128,066
83Equal Employment Opportunity Commission$127,907
84Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia$127,654
85Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation$127,622
86Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission$126,795
87James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation$124,913
88Corporation for National and Community Service$121,784
89American Battle Monuments Commission$121,043
90African Development Foundation$120,128
91Office of Personnel Management$119,164
92Department of Veterans Affairs$118,991
93Council of Economic Advisers$116,532
94Smithsonian Institution$114,597
95Railroad Retirement Board$113,155
96United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission$112,622
97U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom$111,856
98Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission$108,987
99Social Security Administration$104,092
100Small Business Administration$102,022
101International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. Section$99,665
102Department of the Interior$96,146
103National Archives and Records Administration$96,054
104Department of the Treasury$93,787
105Department of Agriculture$89,512
106Armed Forces Retirement Home$80,334
Not rankedFarm Credit Administration$286,117
Not rankedChemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board$162,427
Not rankedDepartment of Homeland Security$129,977
Not rankedInternational Boundary Commission: United States and Canada$129,337
Not rankedDepartment of Justice$128,718
Not rankedDepartment of the NavyNo figure
Not rankedDepartment of the ArmyNo figure
Not rankedDepartment of the Air ForceNo figure
Not rankedDefense Agencies and Field ActivitiesNo figure
Not rankedNational Credit Union AdministrationNo figure
Not rankedCommission for the Preservation of America's Heritage AbroadNo figure
Not rankedNational Commission on Libraries and Information ScienceNo figure
Not rankedFarm Credit System Insurance CorporationNo figure
Not rankedPublic Interest Declassification BoardNo figure
Not rankedPublic Buildings Reform BoardNo figure
Not rankedJapan-United States Friendship CommissionNo figure
Not rankedAppalachian Regional CommissionNo figure
Not rankedNorthern Border Regional CommissionNo figure
Not rankedArctic Research CommissionNo figure
Not rankedBarry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education FoundationNo figure
Not rankedDelta Regional AuthorityNo figure
Not rankedSouthwest Border Regional CommissionNo figure

5 agencies have an average over fewer than half their employees, because OPM withholds the rest. They are listed with that average and its coverage, and not ranked by it. 17 agencies (681,080 employees) have fewer than five employees whose salary OPM published, so there is no average to rank; most are withheld in full.

What this data cannot show

  • OPM withholds the salary of some employees under its own data release policy: every employee of the Department of Defense, and every employee in the occupations the policy lists, among them criminal investigators, border patrol agents, correctional officers and police. An average here is the average of the salaries OPM published, not of everyone counted.
  • An average is over employees paid an annual salary. Employees paid hourly, daily or on another basis have a published rate that is not averaged here, and are counted in the headcount.
  • The month is August 2026, the newest month in OPM's file that OPM has not flagged as incomplete.

Related

Sources

Compiled automatically from OPM Federal Workforce Data — Federal Employment Raw Data (EHRI Status) by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built

Data retrieved