GS Pay Calculator

The General Schedule (GS) is the pay system for most white-collar federal civilian employees. Every GS salary is built from three parts: a grade from GS-1 to GS-15 that reflects the level of the job, a step from 1 to 10 that reflects time and performance in that grade, and a locality payment that depends on where the official worksite is. OPM publishes one base table and 58 locality tables each year, and the calculator above reproduces every 2026 rate in those tables to the dollar.

For pay outside the General Schedule, the Military Pay Calculator covers active-duty basic pay, and the VA Disability Calculator estimates the tax-free VA compensation that many veterans in federal jobs receive alongside their salary.

How GS pay is calculated

OPM's rule is short. Multiply the base rate for your grade and step by one plus your locality percentage, round to the nearest whole dollar and apply the cap. The hourly rate then comes from the annual rate, and the biweekly rate from the hourly rate:

The 2,087-hour divisor comes from 5 U.S.C. 5504(b). OPM explains it as the average number of paid hours in a calendar year over the 28 years it takes the calendar to repeat: a year has 260, 261 or 262 workdays, and the long-run average works out to 2,087.143 hours. Hourly rates round to the nearest cent, with half a cent and above rounded up, so a GS employee's hourly, weekly and biweekly figures always follow from the annual rate rather than the other way round.

Worked example: GS-12 step 1 in Washington-Baltimore

1. Base rate: the 2026 GS table lists $76,463 for GS-12 step 1.
2. Locality: Washington-Baltimore-Arlington has a 33.94% locality payment, so 76,463 × 1.3394 = 102,414.54, rounded to $102,415.
3. Cap: $102,415 is far below $197,200, so the cap does not apply.
4. Hourly: 102,415 ÷ 2,087 = 49.0728, rounded to $49.07.
5. Biweekly: $49.07 × 80 = $3,925.60.

The locality payment alone is worth $25,952 a year here. The same job in Rest of U.S. pays $89,508, and in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland it pays $111,896, a spread of $22,388 for identical work at the same grade and step.

Worked example: when the pay cap applies

Locality rates may not exceed the rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule, which is $197,200 in 2026 (5 CFR 531.606). In the highest-paying area the cap reaches down into GS-14. A GS-14 step 10 in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland has a base rate of $139,684; with the 46.34% locality payment that would be 139,684 × 1.4634 = 204,413.57, rounded to $204,414. The payable rate is $197,200, which means $94.49 an hour and $7,559.20 per biweekly pay period, so the cap costs $7,214 a year.

Step 9 is capped as well ($199,172 before the cap), so in that area steps 9 and 10 of GS-14 pay exactly the same. At GS-15 the cap starts at step 3 in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, at step 5 in New York-Newark and at step 6 in Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, Los Angeles-Long Beach and Houston-The Woodlands; GS-15 step 10 is capped in 37 of the 58 locality areas. In Rest of U.S. even GS-15 step 10 stays below the cap at $192,331.

2026 GS pay scale: base pay by grade and step

This is OPM's Salary Table 2026-GS, the General Schedule before any locality payment. The last column shows the dollar value of one within-grade step; at GS-1 and GS-2 the steps are uneven.

Because locality payments apply throughout the United States and its territories, every GS employee stationed there receives at least the 17.06% Rest of U.S. payment on top of these rates. From GS-3 upward each step adds the same dollar amount, about one thirtieth (3.3%) of the step 1 rate: $2,549 at GS-12 and $4,213 at GS-15.

What changed for 2026

On December 18, 2025, the President signed Executive Order 14368. It raised the General Schedule base rates by 1.0% and kept every locality percentage at its 2025 level, as the alternative pay plan sent to Congress on August 28, 2025 had announced. The new rates took effect on January 11, 2026, the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after January 1. Because no locality percentage moved, every locality rate rose by about 1% and no area gained on another.

The same order raised the Executive Schedule by 1%, which lifted the locality cap to $197,200. Certain federal law enforcement personnel received more: OPM used its special salary rate authority under 5 U.S.C. 5305 to add about 2.8% on top of the 1%, roughly 3.8% in total, through special rate tables that replace the regular GS rates for covered positions. OPM's notice in the Federal Register on February 3, 2026 documents the 2026 schedules and lists locality payments from 17.06% to 46.34% across the 58 areas.

Two statutes set the default that the 2026 plan replaced. Under 5 U.S.C. 5303(a), the across-the-board raise each January equals the growth in the Employment Cost Index minus half a percentage point. Under 5 U.S.C. 5304, locality payments exist to narrow the gap between federal and non-federal pay for the same levels of work in each area, measured with surveys by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and reported each year by the President's Pay Agent. If the President considers the formula raise inappropriate because of a national emergency or serious economic conditions, 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) allows an alternative plan sent to Congress before September 1, which is the route used for 2026.

Will GS pay change in 2027?

On August 26, 2026, the President sent Congress the alternative pay plan for 2027 (House Document 119-189). It keeps General Schedule base pay and locality pay at the 2026 rates, so there would be no across-the-board raise and no locality increase in January 2027. The letter states that without the plan, the statutory formulas would have produced a 3.1% base increase plus locality increases averaging 20.6%. It also directs OPM to raise 2027 pay for certain law enforcement personnel by 3.8% through special rates, as it did for 2026.

The January rates are normally fixed by an executive order in late December, and Congress can still enact a different raise before then. Unless that happens, the 2026 tables in this calculator stay in effect for most GS employees in 2027, and within-grade increases and promotions remain the only ways a GS salary grows next year.

2026 locality pay areas and percentages

Locality pay is set by the official worksite. There are 55 metropolitan locality areas plus Alaska, Hawaii and Rest of U.S., which covers every location in the United States and its territories outside the other 57. The table lists each area's 2026 percentage with annual pay at three common grades, all at step 1.

The highest locality payments are San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland (46.34%), New York-Newark (37.95%), Los Angeles-Long Beach (36.47%), Houston-The Woodlands (35.00%) and Washington-Baltimore-Arlington (33.94%). The lowest after Rest of U.S. (17.06%) are Reno-Fernley (17.52%), Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice (17.63%), Fresno-Madera-Hanford (17.65%) and Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'Alene (17.67%). OPM's locality pay area definitions list the counties that belong to each area.

Because every area applies its percentage to the same base table, the gap between two areas is almost exactly the same at every grade and step below the cap: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland pays 25.0% more than Rest of U.S. (1.4634 ÷ 1.1706), and Washington-Baltimore-Arlington pays 14.4% more. Locality pay reflects measured gaps between federal and non-federal salaries for the same work, not a cost-of-living index, so it can differ from what housing costs alone would suggest.

Steps and within-grade increases

Within a grade you move up one step at a time through within-grade increases. Under 5 CFR 531.405 the waiting period depends on the step you are leaving: 52 weeks of creditable service to reach steps 2, 3 and 4, 104 weeks for steps 5, 6 and 7, and 156 weeks for steps 8, 9 and 10. Each increase also requires an acceptable level of competence, which means a most recent rating of record of at least Fully Successful (5 CFR 531.404). Without interruptions it takes 18 years to climb from step 1 to step 10. The table follows a GS-11 in Rest of U.S.:

The raise is almost identical at every step, about $2,490 a year here, because the base steps are equal and the locality percentage scales them evenly; the one-dollar difference at step 8 is rounding. A third worked example comes from Denver-Aurora (30.52%): a GS-9 at step 3 earns $73,408. After 52 weeks at step 3, step 4 pays $75,703, a raise of $2,295. Step 5 then needs 104 weeks at step 4 and pays $77,997, another $2,294. Separately, an employee whose rating of record is Level 5 (Outstanding) may be granted a quality step increase, one additional step (5 CFR 531.504).

Hourly, biweekly and annual pay at common grades

GS employees are paid every two weeks for 80 hours, so biweekly pay is the hourly rate times 80. The table compares step 1 of the most common grades in Rest of U.S. and in Washington-Baltimore-Arlington.

Twenty-six pay periods of 80 hours cover 2,080 hours, while the divisor assumes 2,087, so 26 biweekly checks come to slightly less than the annual rate: 26 × $3,431.20 = $89,211.20 for GS-12 step 1 in Rest of U.S., about $297 short of the $89,508 annual rate. The divisor reflects the long-run average of 2,087 paid hours a year, so the gap closes in years with 261 or 262 workdays.

OPM's hourly tables also list Title 5 overtime rates for FLSA-exempt employees: one and a half times the employee's hourly rate, but no more than one and a half times the hourly rate for GS-10 step 1 in the same area, and never less than the employee's own hourly rate. In Washington-Baltimore-Arlington that ceiling is $55.89 an hour (1.5 × $37.26), so a GS-12 step 1 earning $49.07 an hour receives $55.89 for overtime instead of $73.61, and a GS-13 step 5 at $66.14 an hour receives straight time. In Rest of U.S. the ceiling is $48.86. Employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act follow different overtime rules, and none of these premiums are part of the calculator's figures.

What changes your pay: promotions, moves and special rates

• Promotion. Under the standard two-step rule in 5 CFR 531.214, OPM's method adds two within-grade increases of your current grade to your current base rate, applies your locality payment and places you at the lowest step of the new grade that equals or exceeds that amount. A GS-12 step 8 in Rest of U.S. earns $110,395. Adding two GS-12 increases of $2,549 to the $94,306 base gives $99,404, or $116,362 with locality. The lowest GS-13 rate that equals or exceeds it is step 4 at $117,081, a raise of $6,686.
• Overlapping grades. High steps of one grade overlap low steps of the next, so a promotion from the top of a grade lands well above step 1. GS-11 step 10 has a base rate of $82,938, between GS-12 steps 3 and 4. Promoted under the same rule, a GS-11 step 10 in Rest of U.S. moves from $97,087 to GS-12 step 6 at $104,427, a raise of $7,340.
• A move to another locality area. Grade and step stay the same and only the percentage changes, which is why the calculator lets you switch areas without touching anything else.
• Special rates. Some occupations and locations have OPM special rate tables under 5 U.S.C. 5305 that pay more than the regular locality rate; covered employees receive whichever rate is higher.
• The annual adjustment. Each January the rates change under a decision by the President and Congress. For 2026 that was 1% with frozen locality percentages; the plan for 2027 keeps both base and locality rates unchanged.
• The cap. Near the top of the scale in high-cost areas, a step increase or a raise may add nothing once the rate reaches $197,200.

How to use this calculator

1. Choose your grade. Your SF-50, the Notification of Personnel Action, lists your pay plan, grade and step; a job announcement lists the grade or grade range.
2. Choose your step. New employees usually start at step 1. Current employees can read the step from the SF-50 or the leave and earnings statement.
3. Choose the locality pay area of your official worksite. The list starts with Rest of U.S. and then shows all other areas alphabetically with their 2026 percentages.
4. Read the results. The headline is the annual salary; the tiles show biweekly and hourly pay, base pay and the locality payment. The breakdown shows each calculation, and the step ladder shows every step of your grade with waiting periods and the value of the next within-grade increase.

To compare job offers in two cities, keep the grade and step fixed and switch only the locality pay area. To see what a promotion is worth, change the grade and look for the step that the two-step rule above would give you.

Who this calculator is for

Job seekers use it to turn a USAJOBS grade into a salary for the duty station in the announcement. Current federal employees use it to check their rate, the timing of their next step and the effect of a promotion or a transfer. HR specialists and hiring managers use it to confirm the rate on an offer before the personnel action is processed. Veterans moving into civilian federal work use it next to the VA Disability Calculator to plan household income. Employees closer to retirement use it with the FERS Retirement Calculator, because locality pay counts as basic pay for retirement under 5 CFR 531.610 and so feeds the high-3 average.

Key terms

• General Schedule (GS): the main pay system for federal white-collar employees, with 15 grades and 10 steps per grade.
• Grade: the level of a position, GS-1 to GS-15, set through position classification.
• Step: one of the 10 rates within a grade.
• Locality payment: the percentage added to base pay for the locality pay area of the official worksite.
• Rest of U.S. (RUS): the locality area for every location not in another area, 17.06% in 2026.
• Within-grade increase (WGI): a one-step raise after the required waiting period with acceptable performance.
• Quality step increase (QSI): an additional step that may be granted for an Outstanding rating of record.
• EX-IV cap: the ceiling on locality rates, equal to Executive Schedule level IV, $197,200 in 2026.
• 2,087-hour divisor: the number of hours used to turn an annual rate into an hourly rate.
• Special rate: a higher rate OPM approves for certain occupations or areas under 5 U.S.C. 5305.
• Official worksite: the official location of your position of record, determined by your agency under 5 CFR 531.605; it decides your locality pay area.
• SF-50: the Notification of Personnel Action that documents your position of record, including pay plan, grade, step and duty station.

Limitations and related calculators

The calculator covers the standard General Schedule only. It does not include special rate tables, the 2026 law enforcement rates, other pay plans such as the Federal Wage System, the Senior Executive Service or VA Title 38 pay, overtime and night, Sunday or holiday premiums, awards, recruitment and retention incentives, or retained pay. It shows gross pay before federal and state income tax, Social Security and Medicare, FERS contributions, TSP contributions and health insurance premiums.

• For a pension estimate based on your high-3, use the FERS Retirement Calculator.
• To project Thrift Savings Plan contributions and matching, use the TSP Calculator.
• For uniformed pay and retirement, use the Military Pay Calculator and the Military Retirement Calculator.
• To estimate take-home pay after taxes, use the Paycheck Calculator.

Sources

• U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Salary Table 2026-GS (base rates, effective January 2026).
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2026 General Schedule locality pay tables (all 58 areas, annual and hourly rates).
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2026 Locality Pay Area Definitions.
• Federal Register, January 2026 Pay Schedules, 91 FR 4973 (February 3, 2026), documenting Executive Order 14368.
• U.S. House of Representatives, Alternative Plan for Pay Adjustments, House Document 119-189 (the President's letter of August 26, 2026 on 2027 pay).
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Computing Hourly Rates of Pay Using the 2,087-Hour Divisor.
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2026 Special Rates for Certain Law Enforcement Personnel (memo; 3.8% total increase effective January 11, 2026).
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 5 CFR 531.405, Waiting periods for within-grade increase and 5 CFR 531.404, Earning within-grade increase.
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 5 CFR 531.606, Maximum limits on locality rates and 5 CFR 531.214, Setting pay upon promotion.