EPA Special Agents

EPA special agents are federal government employees. The federal government usually assigns a pay system grade to each position and a level or step within each grade through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The OPM calls this pay-scale system the General Schedule, or GS. The GS grade level starts at 1 and goes up to 15, thus jobs are ranked GS-1 through GS-15. The steps within the 15 grades run from 1 through 10. Salaries vary depending on the grade, step, and location of the job. Lower grade levels and steps usually pay lower salaries, while higher grade levels and steps pay higher salaries. Most EPA special agents start at the GS-5 or higher range. In 2019, GS-5 employees earned annual salaries ranging from $29,350 for Step 1, to $33,262 for Step 5, to $38,152 for Step 10. They might advance to the GS-7 grade or higher. The GS-7 pay grade paid salaries that ranged from $36,356 to $47,264. Supervisory criminal investigators can earn more than $100,000 a year.

In addition to salaries, as federal government employees EPA special agents receive numerous benefits, including paid holidays, annual leave and sick leave, federal retirement plans, paid health insurance, child care and child-care tuition assistance, eldercare, access to a fitness center, tuition assistance and student loan reimbursement, among other incentives.