Series 0470

Soil Science

Soil scientists who study soils and map them to guide land use, farming, and conservation. Most jobs are with the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

0400 Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Group · General Schedule

See open 0470 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 15
Open now: 2
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Not enough data
Demand score: 29/100
Remote opportunity score: Not enough data
Veteran opportunity score: 67/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-11 to GS-13

Most common promotion potential: GS-12

GS pay plan, used by 64% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$89,508 to $120,696 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: 20%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 80%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 47%
Telework eligible (open now): 50%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of Agriculture (8)
Department of the Army (6)
Department of the Air Force (1)

Top states

Mississippi (3)
Ohio (3)
South Carolina (2)
Alabama (1)
Florida (1)

Hiring patterns

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

When this series usually posts jobs

Postings are spread fairly evenly through the year, so there is no clear best month to look.

Typical postings for series 0470 by calendar month, compared with an average month
Month	Compared with an average month
January	About average
February	About average
March	6% above average
April	About average
May	About average
June	About average
July	About average
August	12% above average
September	5% above average
October	11% above average
November	9% below average
December	17% 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 0470 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	57
FY 2019	94
FY 2020	138
FY 2021	155
FY 2022	139
FY 2023	189
FY 2024	132
FY 2025	41
FY 2026	13

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 0470 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	0
Jan 2026	0
Feb 2026	0
Mar 2026	1
Apr 2026	3
May 2026	3
Jun 2026	1
Jul 2026	2
Aug 2026	1
Sep 2026	2
Oct 2026	1
Nov 2026 (month to date)	1

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
0457 Soil Conservation 103 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.