2026 General Schedule pay for any grade, step and OPM locality pay area, with hourly and biweekly pay and when your next within-grade increase comes
Updated October 2026
Every General Schedule employee is paid from two pieces: the base GS rate for the grade and step, plus a locality payment for the pay area where the job is located. OPM publishes the combined rates as one table per locality, rounded to whole dollars, and capped by law at the top. The 2026 tables include a 1% General Schedule increase, effective January 2026. Hourly pay is the annual rate divided by 2,087 hours, and biweekly pay is 80 hours at that rate.
Worked example from OPM’s tables. The base 2026 GS table pays GS-13 step 1 $90,925 and GS-15 step 10 $164,301. In the Rest of U.S. locality (17.06%), GS-1 step 1 is $26,437, or $12.67 an hour (26,437 ÷ 2,087). The calculator’s default, GS-9 step 1 in Rest of U.S., pays $61,722 a year ($29.57 an hour), against $52,727 on the base table. After 52 weeks it moves to step 2, $63,780.
| Locality pay area | Locality % | GS-7 step 1 | GS-12 step 1 | GS-13 step 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of U.S. | 17.06% | $50,460 | $89,508 | $106,437 |
| Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA | 33.94% | $57,736 | $102,415 | $121,785 |
| New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA | 37.95% | $59,465 | $105,481 | $125,431 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA | 36.47% | $58,827 | $104,349 | $124,085 |
| San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA | 46.34% | $63,081 | $111,896 | $133,060 |
| Houston-The Woodlands, TX | 35.00% | $58,193 | $103,225 | $122,749 |
| Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI | 30.86% | $56,409 | $100,059 | $118,984 |
| Atlanta--Athens-Clarke County--Sandy Springs, GA-AL | 23.79% | $53,361 | $94,654 | $112,556 |
| Denver-Aurora, CO | 30.52% | $56,262 | $99,800 | $118,675 |
OPM’s 2026 tables cover 58 areas, including Alaska, Hawaii and “Rest of U.S.” for places outside a named metro area. All of them are in the calculator. Which area applies depends on your duty station’s county, under OPM’s locality pay area definitions.
| Moving from | Waiting period (5 CFR 531.405) |
|---|---|
| Steps 1, 2 and 3 | 52 calendar weeks at each step |
| Steps 4, 5 and 6 | 104 calendar weeks at each step |
| Steps 7, 8 and 9 | 156 calendar weeks at each step |
That adds up to 18 years from step 1 to step 10 for an employee with a scheduled tour of duty, who must also perform at an acceptable level of competence. Employees without a scheduled tour count days in a pay status instead (260, 520 or 780 days). Locality rates are capped: in the 2026 tables the highest rate is $197,200. In high-cost areas the upper steps of GS-15, and sometimes GS-14, are all held at that figure, so moving up a step there does not raise pay.
| Grade | Step 1 | Step 4 | Step 7 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS-1 | $26,437 | $29,078 | $31,338 | $33,067 |
| GS-2 | $29,725 | $32,250 | $34,528 | $37,404 |
| GS-3 | $32,435 | $35,680 | $38,925 | $42,170 |
| GS-4 | $36,409 | $40,051 | $43,693 | $47,334 |
| GS-5 | $40,736 | $44,809 | $48,883 | $52,957 |
| GS-6 | $45,409 | $49,950 | $54,490 | $59,031 |
| GS-7 | $50,460 | $55,506 | $60,553 | $65,599 |
| GS-8 | $55,882 | $61,469 | $67,057 | $72,644 |
| GS-9 | $61,722 | $67,896 | $74,070 | $80,243 |
| GS-10 | $67,970 | $74,765 | $81,560 | $88,356 |
| GS-11 | $74,678 | $82,148 | $89,618 | $97,087 |
| GS-12 | $89,508 | $98,459 | $107,411 | $116,362 |
| GS-13 | $106,437 | $117,081 | $127,725 | $138,370 |
| GS-14 | $125,776 | $138,356 | $150,935 | $163,514 |
| GS-15 | $147,945 | $162,740 | $177,536 | $192,331 |
Rest of U.S. rates above. For the base table, Washington-Baltimore, New York, San Francisco and every other area, pick it in the calculator.
It shows OPM’s standard 2026 GS locality rates only. It does not include special rate tables, law enforcement officer rates, retention or recruitment incentives, overtime or night differentials. It also leaves out other pay systems such as FWS wage grade, Senior Executive Service and VA Title 38. It does not compute promotion pay, pay retention or grade retention. For your own pay, check your SF-50 and leave and earnings statement, or ask your agency’s HR office.