Series 1320

Chemistry

Chemists who study and test substances, develop new materials, and analyze samples for research, environmental protection, and defense.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

1300 Physical Sciences Group · General Schedule

See open 1320 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 270
Open now: 11
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Rising (+10%)
Demand score: 75/100
Remote opportunity score: 55/100
Veteran opportunity score: 83/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-11 to GS-14

Most common promotion potential: GS-13

GS pay plan, used by 69% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$107,733 to $158,322 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: 53%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 47%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 30%
Telework eligible (open now): 55%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of the Navy (80)
Department of the Army (50)
Department of Health and Human Services (25)
Other Agencies and Independent Organizations (23)
Department of Defense (16)

Top states

Maryland (66)
District of Columbia (50)
Georgia (27)
Virginia (22)
California (15)

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 1320 by calendar month, compared with an average month
Month	Compared with an average month
January	About average
February	About average
March	11% above average
April	5% above average
May	7% below average
June	About average
July	About average
August	9% above average
September	7% above average
October	About average
November	5% below average
December	19% 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 1320 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	630
FY 2019	635
FY 2020	587
FY 2021	629
FY 2022	775
FY 2023	718
FY 2024	719
FY 2025	256
FY 2026	247

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 1320 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	11
Jan 2026	10
Feb 2026	11
Mar 2026	30
Apr 2026	31
May 2026	29
Jun 2026	25
Jul 2026	25
Aug 2026	23
Sep 2026	40
Oct 2026	24
Nov 2026 (month to date)	11

1301 General Physical Science 1,161 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.