Grades and pay
Typical grades
ND-4 to ND-5
Most common promotion potential: ND-5
ND pay plan, used by 28% of this series' postings.
Typical posted salary range
$125,776 to $190,424 per year
Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.
Series 1550
Computer Science
Performs professional computer science work involving software, algorithms, systems, data, modeling, research, and advanced computing. This series is usually more computer-science-oriented than 2210 and may require stronger emphasis on theory, software engineering, data systems, or technical research.
See open 1550 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory
At a glance
- Job postings, last 12 months
- 705
- Open now
- 31
- Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before)
- Rising (+18%)
- Demand score
- 87/100
- Remote opportunity score
- 74/100
- Veteran opportunity score
- 87/100
Grades and pay
Who can apply
Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.
- Open to the public
- 36%
- Federal employees and other special groups only
- 64%
- Listed a veterans hiring path
- 54%
- Telework eligible (open now)
- 74%
- Fully remote (open now)
- 0%
Who is hiring and where
Hiring patterns
Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated
When this series usually posts jobs
Postings usually peak in March and August and are lowest in December.
| Month | Compared with an average month |
|---|---|
| January | About average |
| February | 6% above average |
| March | 18% above average |
| April | About average |
| May | About average |
| June | About average |
| July | About average |
| August | 13% above average |
| September | About average |
| October | About average |
| November | 7% below average |
| December | 22% 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.
| Fiscal year | Postings |
|---|---|
| FY 2018 | 1,103 |
| FY 2019 | 1,318 |
| FY 2020 | 1,316 |
| FY 2021 | 1,403 |
| FY 2022 | 1,666 |
| FY 2023 | 1,723 |
| FY 2024 | 1,523 |
| FY 2025 | 664 |
| FY 2026 | 671 |
Postings by month, last 12 months
| Month | Postings |
|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | 34 |
| Jan 2026 | 46 |
| Feb 2026 | 55 |
| Mar 2026 | 65 |
| Apr 2026 | 65 |
| May 2026 | 67 |
| Jun 2026 | 46 |
| Jul 2026 | 74 |
| Aug 2026 | 70 |
| Sep 2026 | 89 |
| Oct 2026 | 61 |
| Nov 2026 | 33 |
Typical duties
- Designing software, algorithms, models, simulations, or computational methods
- Developing, testing, and improving technical systems or software prototypes
- Analyzing data structures, architectures, performance, and system behavior
- Conducting technical research or applying computer science methods to mission problems
- Documenting technical decisions, methods, findings, and implementation constraints
Related series in Mathematical Sciences Group
- 1515 Operations Research 615 postings in 12 months
- 1560 Data Science Series 429 postings in 12 months
- 1530 Statistics 194 postings in 12 months
- 1501 General Mathematics and Statistics 174 postings in 12 months
- 1520 Mathematics 160 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.