August 2015

2014 Senior Executive 

Service Report
Senior Executive Service

Fiscal Year 2014 

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 Agency ............................................................................................. 4

Table 4. Senior Executive Service Agency Trends ................................................................................. 5

Table 5. Senior Executive Service Age Trends ....................................................................................... 5

Figure 2. Senior Executive Service (SES) Age Trends ............................................................................ 6

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

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

Figure 3. Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender Trends....................................................................... 7

Table 8. Senior Executive Service Ethnicity and Race ........................................................................... 7

Table 9. Senior Executive Service (SES) Ethnicity and Race Trends ...................................................... 8

Table 10. Senior Executive Service (SES) Education .............................................................................. 8

Table 11. Senior Executive Service (SES) Education Trends .................................................................. 9

Table 12. Senior Executive Service (SES) Length of Service (LOS) Trends ............................................. 9

Figure 4. Senior Executive Service (SES) Length of Service (LOS) Trends ...........................................10

Table 13. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends ......................................................................10

Figure 5. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends .......................................................................11

Table 14. Senior Executive Service (SES) Action Trends .....................................................................11

Figure 6. Senior Executive Service (SES) Action Trends ......................................................................12

Additional Details ........................................................................................................................................12
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. 

Data 

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

employees broken down by type of appointment for Fiscal Year 2014. Nearly 90% of SES employees are 

career. 

Table 1. Senior Executive Service (SES) Appointments 

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2014 (FY2014) 

APPOINTMENT COUNT PERCENT 

UNSPECIFIED 8 0.10

CAREER (SES PERMANENT) 7,014 89.90 

NONCAREER (SES PERMANENT) 

 

682 8.74

LIMITED TERM (SES NON-PERMANENT) 96 1.23 

LIMITED EMERGENCY (SES NON-PERMANENT) 2 0.03

ALL 7,802 100.00 

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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

APPOINTMENT FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 

UNSPECIFIED 89 96 10 4 8 

 

CAREER (SES PERMANENT) 6,999 7,126 7,199 7,190 7,014 

NONCAREER (SES PERMANENT) 672 669 675 625 682 

LIMITED TERM (SES NON-PERMANENT) 144 126 117 93 96 

LIMITED EMERGENCY (SES NON-PERMANENT) 1 5 3 2 2 

ALL 7,905 8,022 8,004 7,914 7,802 
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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

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 2014. 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 Agency 

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2014 (FY2014) 

AGENCY COUNT PERCENT

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 85 1.09

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT 110 1.41

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 158 2.03

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 173 2.22

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 183 2.35

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 227 2.91

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 242 3.10

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY 281 3.60

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 305 3.91

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 344 4.41

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

 

373 4.78

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 384 4.92

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 420 5.38

 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 462 5.92

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 464 5.95

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 464 5.95

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 

 

598 7.66

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 767 9.83

ALL OTHER AGENCIES 1,762 22.58

 4,000

 4,500

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

 5,000

 5,500

 6,000

 6,500

 7,000

 7,500

 8,000

 8,500

SES Count 

ALL 7,802 100.00

Fiscal Year 
5 

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 Agency Trends 

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

AGENCY FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 79 88 78 80 85 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT 112 105 104 104 110 

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 195 190 181 176 158 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 171 166 177 169 173 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 173 184 189 190 183 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 214 213 231 221 227 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 267 274 270 256 242 

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY 284 288 266 279 281 

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 350 331 318 316 305 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 364 350 344 346 344 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 338 373 387 373 373 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 372 371 372 363 384 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 454 439 460 443 420 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 454 453 471 482 462 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 514 504 478 479 464 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 466 484 493 474 464 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 513 579 614 604 598 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 750 762 749 768 767 

ALL OTHER AGENCIES 1,835 1,868 1,822 1,791 1,762 

ALL 7,905 8,022 8,004 7,914 7,802 

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 2014

(FY2014), at the 25th percentile, 25% of SES employees are younger than 49.4; 75% of SES employees are 

older than 49.4. The interpretation is the same for the median, which is simply the 50th percentile; 50% 

of SES employees are younger than 54.5 while 50% of SES employees are older than 54.5 for FY2014. 

For FY2014 the 75th percentile is 59.4; 75% of SES employees are younger than 59.4, while 25% of SES 

employees are older than 59.4. 

Table 5. Senior Executive Service Age Trends 

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

FISCAL YEAR AVERAGE AGE 25TH PERCENTILE MEDIAN 75TH PERCENTILE

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

2013 54.2 49.3 54.4 59.4

2014 54.3 49.4 54.5 59.4
6 

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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

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

broken down by gender for Fiscal Year 2014. Over 66% of SES employees are male. 

Table 6. Senior Executive Service (SES) Gender 

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2014 (FY2014) 

GENDER COUNT PERCENT

FEMALE 2,649 33.95

MALE 5,153 66.05

ALL 7,802 100.00

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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

FISCAL YEAR FEMALE MALE ALL 

2010 2,480 5,425 7,905 

2011 2,593 5,429 8,022 

2012 2,678 5,326 8,004 

2013 2,666 5,248 7,914 

2014 2,649 5,153 7,802 

59.0

61.0

47.0

49.0

51.0

53.0

55.0

57.0

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

SES Age 

AVERAGE AGE

25TH PERCENT

RCENT

ILE

ILE

MEDIAN

75TH PE

Fiscal Year 
7 

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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

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 2014. 

Table 8. Senior Executive Service Ethnicity and Race 

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Year 2014 (FY2014) 

ETHNICITY AND RACE COUNT PERCENT

UNSPECIFIED 1 0.01

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 90 1.15

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN 253 3.24

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 859 11.01

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

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE 6,193 79.38

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE 50 0.64

HISPANIC/LATINO 230 2.95

HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 2 0.03

HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN 2 0.03

HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 6 0.08

HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE 95 1.22

HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE 9 0.12

ALL 7,802 100.00

 -

 1,000

 2,000

 3,000

 4,000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

SES Count 

Fiscal Year 

 5,000

 6,000

FEMALE

MALE
8 

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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

ETHNICITY AND RACE FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 

UNSPECIFIED 14 5 3 3 1 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 93 90 91 92 90 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN 229 242 251 241 253 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 752 794 829 849 859 

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

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE 6,477 6,515 6,444 6,341 6,193 

NOT HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE 32 39 46 55 50 

HISPANIC/LATINO 242 261 254 238 230 

HISPANIC/LATINO & AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 1 1 1 1 2 

HISPANIC/LATINO & ASIAN 1 1 1 2 

HISPANIC/LATINO & BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 3 4 3 4 6 

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

HISPANIC/LATINO & WHITE 47 56 64 71 95 

HISPANIC/LATINO & OF MORE THAN ONE RACE 6 4 4 7 9 

ALL 7,905 8,022 8,004 7,914 7,802 

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

broken down by education levels for Fiscal Year 2014. 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 updated 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 for Fiscal Year 2014 (FY2014) 

EDUCATION COUNT PERCENT

NO HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 4 0.05

HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 292 3.74

SOME COLLEGE 209 2.68

TECHNICAL TRAINING 7 0.09

ASSOCIATES DEGREE 35 0.45

COLLEGE DEGREE 1,805 23.14

ADVANCED DEGREE 5,449 69.84

UNKNOWN OR UNSPECIFIED 1 0.01

ALL 7,802 100.00
9 

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 initial hire into the federal Government 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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

EDUCATION FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014

NO HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 4 5 6 4 4 

HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE 285 288 277 292 292 

SOME COLLEGE 216 236 224 220 209 

TECHNICAL TRAINING 4 5 2 4 7 

ASSOCIATES DEGREE 40 36 39 35 35 

COLLEGE DEGREE 1,946 1,885 1,895 1,828 1,805 

ADVANCED DEGREE 5,400 5,561 5,556 5,528 5,449 

UNKNOWN OR UNSPECIFIED 10 6 5 3 1 

ALL 7,905 8,022 8,004 7,914 7,802 

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 service. In addition to the average, the quartiles are listed in order. For Fiscal Year 2014

(FY2014), 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 23.8, while 50% of SES 

employees have served more than 23.8 years, for FY2014. For FY2014 the 75th percentile is 30.2; 75% 

of SES employees have served less than 30.2 years, while 25% of SES employees have served more than 

30.2 years. 

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

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

FISCAL YEAR AVERAGE LOS 25TH PERCENTILE MEDIAN 75TH PERCENTILE

2010 22.2 13.6 24.0 31.2

2011 22.0 13.0 23.8 30.9

2012 22.0 12.9 23.6 30.4

2013 22.0 13.2 23.8 30.2

2014 22.0 12.9 23.8 30.2
10

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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

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 2014 

(FY2014), at the 25th percentile, 25% of SES employees earn less than $162,237 a year; 75% of SES 

employees earn more than $162,237 a year. The interpretation is the same for the median, which is 

simply the 50th percentile; 50% of SES employees earn less than $168,766 a year, while 50% of SES 

employees earn more than $168,766 a year, for FY2014. For FY2014 the 75th percentile is $177,023; 

75% of SES employees earn less than $177,023 a year, while 25% of SES employees earn more than 

$177,023 a year. 

Table 13. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends 

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

FISCAL YEAR AVERAGE SALARY 25TH PERCENTILE MEDIAN 75TH PERCENTILE

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 

2013 $ 165,645 $ 159,609 $165,300 $ 174,730 

2014 $ 168,214 $ 162,237 $168,766 $ 177,023 

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

20.0

22.0

24.0

26.0

28.0

30.0

32.0

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

SES LOS 

Fiscal Year 

AVERAGE LOS

25TH PERCENTILE

MEDIAN

75TH PERCENTILE
11

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 with a recent increase in 2014. 

Figure 5. Senior Executive Service (SES) Salary Trends 

Statistics restricted to pay plan ES from Fiscal Years 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

ACTIONS DYNAMICS FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014

SEPARATIONS

QUIT 134 211 223 256 241 

DISCHARGE 6 4 5 7 2 

REDUCTION IN FORCE (RIF) 1 

MISCELLANEOUS TERMINATION 10 10 11 13 9 

RETIREMENT 509 590 608 606 632 

DEATH 8 7 12 12 6 

OTHER SEPARATION 3 3 

NEW HIRES

NEW HIRE - COMP - TEMP/LIMITED APPT 1 

NEW HIRE - SES APPT 408 388 277 300 357 

NEW HIRE - EXCEPTED APPOINTMENT 1 

COVERSIONS CONVERSION - EXCEPTED 1 1 

CONVERSION - SES 697 800 791 755 683

 $150,000

 $155,000

 $160,000

 $165,000

 $170,000

 $175,000

 $180,000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

SES Salary 

Fiscal Year 

AVERAGE SALARY

25TH PERCENTILE

MEDIAN

75TH PERCENTILE
12

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 2010 to 2014 (FY2010-FY2014) 

Additional Details 

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

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

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

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/DAG 08-15-03