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Department of Veterans Affairs - Federal Departments

Year Founded:
1989
Employees:
427,172
Outlay:
$98B / year
Employee Expense:
$38.69B in 2022

The Federal Government is broken down into fifteen departments, each of which consists of a number of sub-departments and organizational groups tasked with accomplishing the Department's overall goals.

The Department of Veterans Affairs serves to honor the men and women who have served in our nations armed forces and to assist veterans and their families. At its core, the VA is a military veterans benefits program. The VA was formally established in 1989, however the roll that the Department of Veterans Affairs serves has been around for much longer. After the American Revolutionary War pensions were provided to soldiers who were wounded. In 1834, the first federally owned and operated hospital for veterans was formed. Today the benefits program has been expanded to assist not just veterans but also their families.

Who does the Department of Veterans Affairs hire?

The VA primarily hires nurses, physicians, pharmacists and mental health professionals. These care givers fulfill the Veterans Affairs primary goal of offering superior medical care to our veterans. Because the VA handles sensitive electronic medical records for all their patients there are a large number of computer experts hired by the VA as well.

In 2022, the most common occupation employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs was Nurse at 80,950 employees. The second largest occupation was Medical Support Assistance with 31,833 employees.

VA is based in Washington, D.C. but most employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs work in hospitals around the country providing life changing medical care to wounded and disabled veterans.

History of the Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs was first established on July 21, 1930 but did not become a cabinet-level department until March 15, 1989. Support for veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces had been provided by independent agencies and on an ad-hoc basis before the VA was established. In fact, the first Continental Congress of the United States guaranteed pension for any disabled soldier. Before the VA, medical care was provided to veterans by ordinary state and local hospitals.

After the First World War, Congress created the Veterans Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions for Interior Departments and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. These agencies were consolidated to create the VA in 1930.

The WWII G.I. Bill of 1944 has had a profound effect on the landscape of American life today. The bill has shaped American way of life more than perhaps any other single legislation in American History. The benefits created by the G.I. Bill included low-cost mortgages, affordable loans, free tuition to universities and trade schools, and increased unemployment compensation. The bill applies to all soldiers who have been in active duty regardless of whether they saw combat. The G.I. bill also spurred the creation of federal hospitals to provide care to wounded veterans.

The VA has been an enormous success providing essential services to Americans who have served our nation. However, since before WWII the VA has struggled to provide timely and appropriate service to all veterans. The growing numbers of disabled veterans, longer lifespans and limited budget have all contributed to the bottleneck within the VA.

The Department of Veterans Affairs was formerly an independent agency as the Veterans Administration

Average Pay of an Employee in the Department of Veterans Affairs

Year Average Pay
2004 $81655.28
2005 $83968.12
2006 $86041.10
2007 $88196.07
2008 $92267.89
2009 $97813.04
2010 $98006.59
2011 $97324.72
2012 $98343.10
2013 $101017.21
2014 $102807.06
2015 $104373.20
2016 $106665.40
2017 $109998.82
2018 $111288.94
2019 $110475.67
2020 $115707.41
2021 $119024.61
2022 $122361.22

Agencies in the Department of Veterans Affairs (2022)

Agency Employee Count Total Salary Expense Average Pay
Veterans Health Administration 383,753 $34.91B $92,702
Veterans Benefits Administration 24,880 $1.88B $80,895
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology 8,169 $869.81M $106,607
National Cemetery Administration 2,156 $148.6M $68,986
Board of Veterans Appeals 1,201 $126.57M $116,224
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance 1,141 $92.2M $81,092
Inspector General (Department of Veterans Affairs) 1,109 $114.55M $127,281
Executive Director, Office of Acquisition and Logistics 976 $107.31M $110,057
General Counsel (Department of Veterans Affairs) 792 $95.7M $120,832
Office of the Secretary (Department of Veterans Affairs) 698 $84.53M $132,289
Executive Director for Security and Law Enforcement 398 $15.1M $82,992
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Office of Resolution Management 311 $31.65M $101,772
Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology 284 $35.99M $126,735
Veterans Customer Exper (Vce) 236 $27.89M $118,699
Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management 177 $22.51M $127,174
Electronic Health Record Modernization 168 $22.51M $133,989
Assistant Secretary for Human Resources Management 147 $18.76M $127,643
Office of Enterprise Integration 75 $11.11M $148,181
Department of Veterans Affairs 74 $10.78M $145,690
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration 62 $7.64M $123,278
Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration 42 $5.33M $127,020
Office of Enterprise Operations 39 $5.6M $143,620
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs 38 $5.23M $137,512
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget 36 $5.27M $146,298
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs 28 $3.78M $139,916
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs 28 $3.74M $133,511
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Corporate Senior Executive Management 27 $3.54M $131,199
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Emergency Management & Resilience 23 $3.29M $142,956
Executive Director for Identity, Credential, and Accessmanagement 22 $2.48M $112,751
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Labor Management Relations 20 $2.75M $137,420
Assistant Secretary for Diversity & Inclusion 19 $2.66M $140,115
Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Operations, Security, and Preparedness 19 $2.42M $134,502
Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs 13 $1.69M $130,245
Deputy Assistance Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs 11 $1.43M $130,097

Data Sources

The information provided on these pages is sourced from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) dataset. Postal Service data is managed exclusively by the USPS . All information is displayed unmodified and as provided by the source agency.

Federal employee salaries are public information under open government laws (5 U.S.C. § 552). FederalPay provides this data in the interest of government transparency — employee data may not be used for commercial soliciting or vending of any kind. Learn more about the FederalPay Employees Dataset here.


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Source: www.federalpay.org/departments/departmentofveteransaffairs