Series 1301

General Physical Science

Physical scientists whose work spans several sciences, such as physics, chemistry, and earth science, or fits none of the more specific ones.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

1300 Physical Sciences Group · General Schedule

See open 1301 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 1,161
Open now: 61
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Steady (+9%)
Demand score: 92/100
Remote opportunity score: 74/100
Veteran opportunity score: 76/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-12 to GS-15

Most common promotion potential: GS-13

GS pay plan, used by 65% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$124,531 to $186,785 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: 41%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 59%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 38%
Telework eligible (open now): 74%
Fully remote (open now): 2%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of the Navy (334)
Other Agencies and Independent Organizations (177)
Department of the Army (159)
Department of Energy (128)
Department of the Air Force (78)

Top states

Maryland (189)
Virginia (157)
California (131)
District of Columbia (128)
Texas (78)

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 1301 by calendar month, compared with an average month
Month	Compared with an average month
January	6% below average
February	5% below average
March	7% above average
April	About average
May	About average
June	About average
July	About average
August	11% above average
September	9% above average
October	About average
November	About average
December	18% 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 1301 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	2,052
FY 2019	2,729
FY 2020	2,489
FY 2021	2,461
FY 2022	3,169
FY 2023	3,295
FY 2024	3,338
FY 2025	1,136
FY 2026	1,026

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 1301 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	48
Jan 2026	38
Feb 2026	71
Mar 2026	87
Apr 2026	121
May 2026	117
Jun 2026	103
Jul 2026	132
Aug 2026	122
Sep 2026	131
Oct 2026	129
Nov 2026 (month to date)	62

1320 Chemistry 270 postings in 12 months
1310 Physics 207 postings in 12 months
1350 Geology 166 postings in 12 months
1311 Physical Science Technician 126 postings in 12 months
1306 Health Physics 114 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.