March 2013

2012 Senior Executive 

 Service Report
Senior Executive Service

Fiscal Year 2012 

This document provides a brief summary of federal employees in Senior Executive Service.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Planning and Policy Analysis

Data Analysis Group
2 

Table of Contents

Purpose ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Data............................................................................................................................................................... 3

Table 1. Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointments......................................................................... 3

Table 2. Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointment Trends .............................................................. 3

Figure 1. Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointment Trends............................................................. 4

Table 3. Senior Executive Service (SES) Agency .................................................................................... 5

Table 4. Senior Executive Service (SES) Agency Trends........................................................................ 6

Table 5. Senior Executive Service (SES) Age Trends.............................................................................. 6

Figure 2. Senior Executive Service (SES) Age Trends ............................................................................ 7

Table 6. Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender.................................................................................... 7

Table 7. Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender Trends........................................................................ 7

Figure 3. Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender Trends....................................................................... 8

Table 8. Senior Executive Service (SES) Ethnicity and Race .................................................................. 8

Table 9. Senior Executive Service (SES) Ethnicity and Race Trends...................................................... 9

Table 10. Senior Executive Service (SES) Education.............................................................................. 9

Table 11. Senior Executive Service (SES) Education Trends................................................................10

Table 12. Senior Executive Service (SES) Length of Service (LOS) Trends...........................................10

Figure 4. Senior Executive Service (SES) Length of Service (LOS) Trends ...........................................11

Table 13. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends......................................................................11

Figure 5. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends.......................................................................12

Table 14. Senior Executive Service (SES) Action Trends .....................................................................12

Figure 6. Senior Executive Service (SES) Action Trends......................................................................13

Additional Details........................................................................................................................................13
3 

Purpose

This document presents an overview of the characteristics of the Senior Executive Service (SES), 

providing the public and analysts access to commonly requested descriptive information. 

This document presents basic data, in the form of tables and charts, on the current and historical 

composition of the Senior Executive Service (SES).

Data

Table 1, Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointments, provides counts and percentages of SES 

employees broken down by type of appointment for Fiscal Year 2012. Over 89% of SES employees are 

career.

Table 1. Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointments

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012)

APPOINTMENT COUNT PERCENT

UNSPECIFIED 10 0.12

CAREER (SES PERMANENT) 7,199 89.94

NONCAREER (SES PERMANENT) 675 8.43

LIMITED TERM (SES NON-PERMANENT) 117 1.46

LIMITED EMERGENCY (SES NON-PERMANENT) 3 0.04

ALL 8,004 100.00

Table 2, Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointment Trends, provides counts of SES employees for the 

last five Fiscal Years broken down by type of appointment. 

Table 2. Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointment Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

APPOINTMENT FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012

UNSPECIFIED 115 100 89 96 10 

CAREER (SES PERMANENT) 6,853 6,968 6,999 7,126 7,199 

NONCAREER (SES PERMANENT) 631 501 672 669 675 

LIMITED TERM (SES NON-PERMANENT) 132 137 144 126 117 

LIMITED EMERGENCY (SES NON-PERMANENT) 5 6 1 5 3 

ALL 7,736 7,712 7,905 8,022 8,004 
4 

Figure 1, Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointment Trends, is a graphical representation of the totals 

in Table 2. 

Figure 1. Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointment Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

 4,000

 4,500

 5,000

 5,500

 6,000

 6,500

 7,000

 7,500

 8,000

 8,500

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

SES Count

Fiscal Year
5 

Table 3, Senior Executive Service (SES) Agency, provides counts and percentages of SES employees by 

agency for all the Cabinet level agencies in Fiscal Year 2012. The table also has a category, “ALL OTHER 

AGENCIES” which contains all non-Cabinet level agencies. The Cabinet level agencies contain over three 

quarters of the SES employees.

Table 3. Senior Executive Service (SES) Agency

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012)

AGENCY COUNT PERCENT

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 78 0.97

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT 104 1.30

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 177 2.21

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 181 2.26

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 189 2.36

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 231 2.89

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY 266 3.32

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 270 3.37

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 318 3.97

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 344 4.30

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 372 4.65

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 387 4.84

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 460 5.75

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 471 5.88

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 478 5.97

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 493 6.16

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 614 7.67

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 749 9.36

ALL OTHER AGENCIES 1,822 22.76

ALL 8,004 100.00
6 

Table 4, Senior Executive Service (SES) Agency Trends, provides counts of SES employees broken down 

by agency for all the Cabinet level agencies for the last five fiscal years. The table also has a category, 

“ALL OTHER AGENCIES” which contains all non-Cabinet level agencies.

Table 4. Senior Executive Service (SES) Agency Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

AGENCY FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 90 79 79 88 78 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT 107 99 112 105 104 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 187 180 171 166 177 

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 161 164 195 190 181 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 168 151 173 184 189 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 219 210 214 213 231 

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY 271 276 284 288 266 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 261 265 267 274 270 

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 335 326 350 331 318 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 345 347 364 350 344 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 373 383 372 371 372 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 318 323 338 373 387 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 428 416 454 439 460 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 487 468 454 453 471 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 509 502 514 504 478 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 440 466 466 484 493 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 491 503 513 579 614 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 727 747 750 762 749 

ALL OTHER AGENCIES 1,819 1,807 1,835 1,868 1,822 

ALL 7,736 7,712 7,905 8,022 8,004 

Table 5, Senior Executive Service (SES) Age Trends, lists the age distribution of SES employees for the last 

five fiscal years. In addition to the average, the quartiles are listed in order. For Fiscal Year 

2012(FY2012), at the 25th percentile, 25% of SES employees are younger than 49.3; 75% of SES 

employees are older than 49.3. The interpretation is the same for the median, which is simply the 50th

percentile; 50% of SES employees are younger than 54.3 while 50% of SES employees are older than 

54.3 for FY2012. For FY2012 the 75th percentile is 59.3; 75% of SES employees are younger than 59.3, 

while 25% of SES employees are older than 59.3. 

Table 5. Senior Executive Service (SES) Age Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

FISCAL YEAR AVERAGE AGE 25TH PERCENTILE MEDIAN 75TH PERCENTILE

2008 53.4 48.6 53.8 58.7

2009 53.8 48.9 54.2 59.0

2010 54.0 49.0 54.3 59.2

2011 54.1 49.1 54.3 59.2

2012 54.2 49.3 54.3 59.3
7 

Figure 2, Senior Executive Service (SES) Age Trends, is a graphical representation of Table 5. Figure 2 

shows that the age statistics have been slowly increasing over the last five fiscal years.

Figure 2. Senior Executive Service (SES) Age Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

Table 6, Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender, provides counts and percentages of SES employees 

broken down by gender for Fiscal Year 2012. Over 66% of SES employees are male.

Table 6. Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012)

GENDER COUNT PERCENT

FEMALE 2,678 33.46

MALE 5,326 66.54

ALL 8,004 100.00

Table 7, Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender Trends, provides counts of SES employees for the last five 

fiscal years broken down by gender. 

Table 7. Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

FISCAL YEAR FEMALE MALE ALL 

2008 2,243 5,493 7,736 

2009 2,373 5,339 7,712 

2010 2,480 5,425 7,905 

2011 2,593 5,429 8,022 

2012 2,678 5,326 8,004 

47.0

49.0

51.0

53.0

55.0

57.0

59.0

61.0

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

SES Age

Fiscal Year

AVERAGE AGE

25TH PERCENTILE

MEDIAN

75TH PERCENTILE
8 

Figure 3, Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender Trends, is a graphical representation of Table 7.

Figure 3. Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

Table 8, Senior Executive Service (SES) Ethnicity and Race, provides counts and percentages of SES 

employees broken down by ethnicity and race for Fiscal Year 2012. 

Table 8. Senior Executive Service (SES) Ethnicity and Race

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012)

ETHNICITY AND RACE COUNT PERCENT

UNSPECIFIED 3 0.04

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 91 1.14

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN 251 3.14

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 829 10.36

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER 12 0.15

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE 6,444 80.51

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE 46 0.57

HISPANIC/LATINO 254 3.17

HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 1 0.01

HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN 1 0.01

HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 3 0.04

HISPANIC/LATINO & NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER 1 0.01

HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE 64 0.80

HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE 4 0.05

ALL 8,004 100.00

 -

 1,000

 2,000

 3,000

 4,000

 5,000

 6,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

SES Count

Fiscal Year

FEMALE

MALE
9 

Table 9, Senior Executive Service (SES) Ethnicity and Race Trends, provides counts of SES employees for 

the last five fiscal years broken down by ethnicity and race.

Table 9. Senior Executive Service (SES) Ethnicity and Race Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

ETHNICITY AND RACE FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 

UNSPECIFIED 9 22 14 5 3 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 88 87 93 90 91 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN 180 210 229 242 251 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 625 687 752 794 829 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER 3 5 7 10 12 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE 6,530 6,386 6,477 6,515 6,444 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE 18 23 32 39 46 

HISPANIC/LATINO 255 235 242 261 254 

HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 1 1 1 1 1 

HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN - 1 1 - 1 

HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 3 5 3 4 3 

HISPANIC/LATINO & NATIVE HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER 1 1 1 1 1 

HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE 22 43 47 56 64 

HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE 1 6 6 4 4 

ALL 7,736 7,712 7,905 8,022 8,004 

Table 10, Senior Executive Service (SES) Education, provides counts and percentages of SES employees 

broken down by education levels for Fiscal Year 2012. The education variable in the OPM databases has 

over twenty levels. Table 10 shows a common grouping of those levels. It is important to note that 

education is not an element regularly collected by agencies. Typically, it is recorded at the time of hire 

and only at the employees’ initiative thereafter. As a result, OPM education statistics should be treated 

as lower bounds on the true educational attainment of the Federal workforce. 

Table 10. Senior Executive Service (SES) Education

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012) 

EDUCATION COUNT PERCENT

NO HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 6 0.07

HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 277 3.46

SOME COLLEGE 224 2.80

TECHNICAL TRAINING 2 0.02

ASSOCIATES DEGREE 39 0.49

COLLEGE DEGREE 1,895 23.68

ADVANCED DEGREE 5,556 69.42

UNKNOWN OR UNSPECIFIED 5 0.06

ALL 8,004 100.00
10

Table 11, Senior Executive Service (SES) Education Trends, provides counts of SES employees for the last 

five fiscal years broken down by education level. Just as Table 10, the education variable in the OPM 

databases has over twenty levels. Table 11 shows a common grouping of those levels. It is important to 

note that education is not an element regularly collected by agencies. Typically, it is recorded at the 

time of hire and only at the employees’ initiative thereafter. As a result, OPM education statistics should 

be treated as lower bounds on the true educational attainment of the Federal workforce

Table 11. Senior Executive Service (SES) Education Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

EDUCATION FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012

NO HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 4 3 4 5 6 

HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 300 272 285 288 277 

SOME COLLEGE 197 204 216 236 224 

TECHNICAL TRAINING 4 4 4 5 2 

ASSOCIATES DEGREE 38 39 40 36 39 

COLLEGE DEGREE 1,908 1,856 1,946 1,885 1,895 

ADVANCED DEGREE 5,269 5,327 5,400 5,561 5,556 

UNKNOWN OR UNSPECIFIED 16 7 10 6 5 

ALL 7,736 7,712 7,905 8,022 8,004 

Table 12, Senior Executive Service (SES) Length of Service (LOS) Trends, lists the LOS distribution of SES 

employees for the last five fiscal years. An employee’s LOS is based on all prior federal service, not just 

their prior SES. In addition to the average, the quartiles are listed in order. For Fiscal Year 2012(FY2012), 

at the 25th percentile, 25% of SES employees have served less than 12.9 years ; 75% of SES employees 

have served more than 12.9 years. The interpretation is the same for the median, which is simply the 

50th percentile; 50% of SES employees have served less than 23.6 while 50% of SES employees have 

served more than 23.6 years, for FY2012. For FY2012 the 75th percentile is 30.4; 75% of SES employees 

have served less than 30.4 years, while 25% of SES employees have served more than 30.4 years.

Table 12. Senior Executive Service (SES) Length of Service (LOS) Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

FISCAL YEAR AVERAGE LOS 25TH PERCENTILE MEDIAN 75TH PERCENTILE

2008 22.7 15.8 24.3 30.8

2009 22.8 15.5 24.5 31.2

2010 22.3 13.7 24.0 31.2

2011 22.0 13.0 23.8 30.9

2012 22.0 12.9 23.6 30.4
11

Figure 4, Senior Executive Service (SES) Length of Service (LOS) Trends, is a graphical representation of 

Table 12. Figure 4 shows that the LOS statistics are relatively stable over the last five fiscal years with 

the exception of the 25th percentile which shows a decrease.

Figure 4. Senior Executive Service (SES) Length of Service (LOS) Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

Table 13. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends, lists the Salary distribution of SES employees for 

the last five fiscal years. In addition to the average, the quartiles are listed in order. For Fiscal Year 2012 

(FY2012), at the 25th percentile, 25% of SES employees earn less than $160,000 a year; 75% of SES 

employees earn more than $160,000 a year. The interpretation is the same for the median, which is 

simply the 50th percentile; 50% of SES employees earn less than $165,800 a year, while 50% of SES 

employees earn more than $165,800 a year, for FY2012. For FY2012 the 75th percentile is $175,013; 

75% of SES employees earn less than $175,013 a year, while 25% of SES employees earn more than 

$175,013 a year.

Table 13. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012) 

FISCAL YEAR AVERAGE SALARY 25TH PERCENTILE MEDIAN 75TH PERCENTILE

2008 $ 157,917 $ 152,079 $158,500 $ 166,500 

2009 $ 163,214 $ 157,400 $163,512 $ 172,200 

2010 $ 167,037 $ 161,617 $167,989 $ 177,000 

2011 $ 166,561 $ 160,920 $167,020 $ 176,179 

2012 $ 166,025 $ 160,000 $165,800 $ 175,013 

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

20.0

22.0

24.0

26.0

28.0

30.0

32.0

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

SES LOS

Fiscal Year

AVERAGE LOS

25TH PERCENTILE

MEDIAN

75TH PERCENTILE
12

Figure 5, Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends, is a graphical representation of Table 13. Figure 5 

shows the statistics have decreased since Fiscal year 2010.

Figure 5. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

Table 14, Senior Executive Service (SES) Action Trends, provides counts of SES employees broken down 

by separations, new hires, and conversions, for the last five fiscal years. Separations represent all 

employees who left the SES at any point in a particular Fiscal Year. New hires represent all employees 

who joined the SES in a particular Fiscal Year. Conversions represent all employees who were converted 

to the SES in a particular Fiscal Year.

Table 14. Senior Executive Service (SES) Action Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

ACTIONS DYNAMICS FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012

SEPARATIONS

QUIT 221 604 134 211 223 

DISCHARGE 4 8 6 4 5 

REDUCTION IN FORCE (RIF) 4 - 1 - - 

MISCELLANEOUS TERMINATION 5 34 10 10 11 

RETIREMENT 538 483 509 590 606 

DEATH 9 15 8 7 12 

OTHER SEPARATION 4 - 3 - - 

NEW HIRES NEW HIRE - COMP - TEMP/LIMITED APPT - 3 - - - 

NEW HIRE - SES APPT 296 632 408 388 274 

COVERSIONS CONVERSION - EXCEPTED 1 1 - 1 1 

CONVERSION - SES 971 796 697 800 789 

 $150,000

 $155,000

 $160,000

 $165,000

 $170,000

 $175,000

 $180,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

SES Salary

Fiscal Year

AVERAGE SALARY

25TH PERCENTILE

MEDIAN

75TH PERCENTILE
13

Figure 6, Senior Executive Service (SES) Action Trends, is a graphical representation of Table 14.

Figure 6. Senior Executive Service (SES) Action Trends

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012 (FY2008-FY2012)

Additional Details

For any data requests, the OPM produces an online data tool, FedScope, which is updated monthly: 

http://www.fedscope.opm.gov/. All of the tables and figures above can be replicated in FedScope, with 

the option for much more detail. The tool is best operated in Internet Explorer. For all other inquiries, 

contact Data Analysis Group (DAG) through FedStats at FedStats@opm.gov. 

 -

 200

 400

 600

 800

 1,000

 1,200

 1,400

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

SES Count

Fiscal Year

SEPARATIONS

NEW HIRES

COVERSIONS
United States

Office of Personnel Management

 Planning and Policy Analysis

 Data Analysis Group 

 1900 E Street, NW

 Washington, DC 20415

PPA-2013-02