Series 0457

Soil Conservation

Soil conservationists who help farmers, ranchers, and landowners protect soil, water, and other natural resources. Most jobs are with the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

0400 Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Group · General Schedule

See open 0457 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 103
Open now: 4
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Rising (+14%)
Demand score: 61/100
Remote opportunity score: Not enough data
Veteran opportunity score: 18/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-9 to GS-13

Most common promotion potential: GS-12

GS pay plan, used by 100% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$84,439 to $116,362 per year

Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.

Who can apply

Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.

Open to the public: 5%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 95%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 14%
Telework eligible (open now): 75%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of Agriculture (97)
Other Agencies and Independent Organizations (4)
Department of the Air Force (1)
Department of the Interior (1)

Top states

South Carolina (10)
Illinois (7)
Montana (7)
New Mexico (6)
Florida (5)

Hiring patterns

Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated

When this series usually posts jobs

Postings usually peak in January and August and are lowest in February and November.

Typical postings for series 0457 by calendar month, compared with an average month
Month	Compared with an average month
January	20% above average
February	22% below average
March	About average
April	About average
May	7% above average
June	8% above average
July	About average
August	17% above average
September	5% below average
October	8% above average
November	16% below average
December	13% below average

Postings by fiscal year

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.

Job announcements for series 0457 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	119
FY 2019	244
FY 2020	638
FY 2021	516
FY 2022	598
FY 2023	631
FY 2024	548
FY 2025	151
FY 2026	87

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 0457 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	2
Jan 2026	0
Feb 2026	2
Mar 2026	1
Apr 2026	3
May 2026	20
Jun 2026	19
Jul 2026	4
Aug 2026	17
Sep 2026	19
Oct 2026	13
Nov 2026 (month to date)	3

0401 General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences 1,076 postings in 12 months
0456 Wildland Fire Management 784 postings in 12 months
0404 Biological Science Technician 456 postings in 12 months
0462 Forestry Technician 213 postings in 12 months
0486 Wildlife Biology 102 postings in 12 months

About this data

Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.

These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.