2026 GS Pay Scale — Rest of U.S. Locality

REST OF U.S. — 17.06% locality adjustment · Ranks 58th of 58 pay areas

2026 Locality-Adjusted Pay Table

+17.06%
Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) · Effective January 2026
All figures are annual salary in USD after 17.06% locality adjustment. Pay cap: $197,200.
Grade Step 1Step 2Step 3 Step 4Step 5Step 6 Step 7Step 8Step 9 Step 10
GS-1$26,437$27,323$28,202$29,078$29,954$30,468$31,338$32,214$32,250$33,067
GS-2$29,725$30,432$31,418$32,250$32,611$33,569$34,528$35,487$36,445$37,404
GS-3$32,435$33,517$34,598$35,680$36,762$37,843$38,925$40,006$41,088$42,170
GS-4$36,409$37,623$38,837$40,051$41,265$42,479$43,693$44,907$46,120$47,334
GS-5$40,736$42,094$43,452$44,809$46,167$47,525$48,883$50,241$51,599$52,957
GS-6$45,409$46,922$48,436$49,950$51,463$52,977$54,490$56,004$57,517$59,031
GS-7$50,460$52,142$53,824$55,506$57,188$58,871$60,553$62,235$63,917$65,599
GS-8$55,882$57,745$59,607$61,469$63,332$65,194$67,057$68,919$70,781$72,644
GS-9$61,722$63,780$65,838$67,896$69,954$72,012$74,070$76,128$78,186$80,243
GS-10$67,970$70,235$72,500$74,765$77,030$79,295$81,560$83,825$86,091$88,356
GS-11$74,678$77,168$79,658$82,148$84,638$87,128$89,618$92,107$94,597$97,087
GS-12$89,508$92,491$95,475$98,459$101,443$104,427$107,411$110,395$113,378$116,362
GS-13$106,437$109,985$113,533$117,081$120,629$124,177$127,725$131,273$134,822$138,370
GS-14$125,776$129,969$134,162$138,356$142,549$146,742$150,935$155,128$159,321$163,514
GS-15$147,945$152,877$157,809$162,740$167,672$172,604$177,536$182,467$187,399$192,331

What is this salary worth in retirement?

Your Rest of U.S. locality salary feeds directly into your FERS High-3 average, which sets your pension for life. Use the GS Pay Calculator to see your exact salary and projected pension by grade, step, and locality.

Calculate salary & pension → Full FERS estimate →

Rest of U.S. Locality Pay — 2026 Overview

The REST OF U.S. pay area carries a 17.06% locality adjustment for 2026, making it one of the lowest federal pay areas (#58 of 58). A GS-13 Step 1 employee here earns $106,437 annually, compared to $90,925 in the national base table — a difference of $15,512 per year.

Locality pay is calculated as: Base Pay × (1 + 17.06%). The resulting salary applies to all General Schedule employees assigned to a duty station within the REST OF U.S. geographic area as defined by OPM. Locality adjustments are effective each January alongside the across-the-board base pay increase.

GS locality pay is capped at the Executive Schedule Level IV rate ($197,200 in 2026) regardless of grade, step, or locality percentage. This cap affects higher steps at GS-15 in the most generous pay areas. See the full interactive GS pay scale to compare all 58 locality pay areas side by side.

Pay data sourced from OPM Salary Tables. Effective January 2026. Locality-adjusted figures computed as Base × (1 + locality rate) per OPM methodology. Not financial advice. Always verify with your agency HR and OPM for official figures.