2026 GS Base Pay Scale
| Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS-1 | $22,584 | $23,341 | $24,092 | $24,840 | $25,589 | $26,028 | $26,771 | $27,519 | $27,550 | $28,248 |
| GS-2 | $25,393 | $25,997 | $26,839 | $27,550 | $27,858 | $28,677 | $29,496 | $30,315 | $31,134 | $31,953 |
| GS-3 | $27,708 | $28,632 | $29,556 | $30,480 | $31,404 | $32,328 | $33,252 | $34,176 | $35,100 | $36,024 |
| GS-4 | $31,103 | $32,140 | $33,177 | $34,214 | $35,251 | $36,288 | $37,325 | $38,362 | $39,399 | $40,436 |
| GS-5 | $34,799 | $35,959 | $37,119 | $38,279 | $39,439 | $40,599 | $41,759 | $42,919 | $44,079 | $45,239 |
| GS-6 | $38,791 | $40,084 | $41,377 | $42,670 | $43,963 | $45,256 | $46,549 | $47,842 | $49,135 | $50,428 |
| GS-7 | $43,106 | $44,543 | $45,980 | $47,417 | $48,854 | $50,291 | $51,728 | $53,165 | $54,602 | $56,039 |
| GS-8 | $47,738 | $49,329 | $50,920 | $52,511 | $54,102 | $55,693 | $57,284 | $58,875 | $60,466 | $62,057 |
| GS-9 | $52,727 | $54,485 | $56,243 | $58,001 | $59,759 | $61,517 | $63,275 | $65,033 | $66,791 | $68,549 |
| GS-10 | $58,064 | $59,999 | $61,934 | $63,869 | $65,804 | $67,739 | $69,674 | $71,609 | $73,544 | $75,479 |
| GS-11 | $63,795 | $65,922 | $68,049 | $70,176 | $72,303 | $74,430 | $76,557 | $78,684 | $80,811 | $82,938 |
| GS-12 | $76,463 | $79,012 | $81,561 | $84,110 | $86,659 | $89,208 | $91,757 | $94,306 | $96,855 | $99,404 |
| GS-13 | $90,925 | $93,956 | $96,987 | $100,018 | $103,049 | $106,080 | $109,111 | $112,142 | $115,173 | $118,204 |
| GS-14 | $107,446 | $111,028 | $114,610 | $118,192 | $121,774 | $125,356 | $128,938 | $132,520 | $136,102 | $139,684 |
| GS-15 | $126,384 | $130,597 | $134,810 | $139,023 | $143,236 | $147,449 | $151,662 | $155,875 | $160,088 | $164,301 |
| Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|
What is this salary worth in retirement?
HighThree is the only tool that connects your GS pay directly to your FERS pension value. Pick any grade and step above, then run the full estimate to see your pension, TSP, and break-even salary.
About the General Schedule Pay Scale
How locality pay works
The General Schedule (GS) pay system covers roughly 1.5 million white-collar federal civilian employees across 15 grades (GS-1 through GS-15) and 10 steps per grade. OPM publishes a single national base pay table each January; that base is then multiplied by a locality factor to produce the actual salary for employees in each of 58 defined pay areas.
The formula is: Locality-Adjusted Salary = Base Pay × (1 + Locality Rate). A GS-13 Step 1 employee in the Washington DC locality (33.94% adjustment) earns $121,785 in 2026, compared to $90,925 in the national base table — a difference of over $30,000 per year. The same employee in San Francisco (46.34%) earns $133,059.
2026 locality pay range
Locality pay adjustments range from 17.06% (Rest of U.S.) to 46.34% (San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA) in 2026. The five highest localities are San Francisco (46.34%), New York–Newark (37.95%), Los Angeles (36.47%), Houston (35.00%), and Washington DC–Baltimore (33.94%). Each of the 52 named metropolitan areas has its own rate; employees not in a named area fall under the Rest of U.S. rate.
Statutory pay cap
GS salaries cannot exceed the Executive Schedule Level IV rate regardless of locality. For 2026, that cap is $197,200 (5 CFR 531.606). This affects primarily GS-15 employees in the highest-adjustment localities — in San Francisco, GS-15 steps 6 through 10 all hit the cap.
GS pay and FERS retirement
Your locality-adjusted salary determines your FERS pension through the High-3 average salary calculation — the average of your three highest consecutive years of locality-adjusted base pay. A higher-paying locality, even for just the final years of your career, can meaningfully increase the pension you collect for life. See the GS Pay Calculator to model the pension value of any grade, step, and locality combination, or explore individual locality pay tables below for each of the Washington DC, San Francisco, New York City, and all 58 OPM pay areas.