GS Pay Calculator

What the General Schedule is

The General Schedule (GS) is the main white-collar pay system for U.S. federal civilian employees. Jobs are classified into grades GS-1 through GS-15 based on difficulty, responsibility, and required qualifications. Within each grade, steps 1–10 recognize longevity and performance. Almost every GS employee also receives locality pay, a percentage on top of the nationwide base table that depends on the official duty station.

This tool is a GS salary calculator (also searched as a GS pay calculator): pick grade, step, and locality to see 2026 gross pay. Figures come from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Salary Table 2026-GS and the 2026 locality payment percentages. They are for planning and offer comparison — your SF-50 and agency HR remain authoritative, especially if a special rate table or LEO schedule applies.

How grade, step, and locality work together

1. Base pay — Look up annual salary on the GS base table for your grade and step (no geography yet).
2. Locality adjustment — Multiply base by (1 + locality% ÷ 100). Example: base × 1.3394 for Washington-Baltimore’s 33.94%.
3. Pay cap — Locality-adjusted GS pay cannot exceed Executive Schedule Level IV ($197,200 in 2026). High steps at GS-15 in expensive localities often hit this cap.
4. Other rates — Biweekly = annual ÷ 26; monthly = annual ÷ 12; hourly = annual ÷ 2,087 (OPM’s federal hour divisor).

Locality areas include major metros (New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and many others), the states of Alaska and Hawaii, and Rest of U.S. for duty stations outside named areas. Telework from another city usually does not change locality if your official duty station stays put.

When steps increase

Within-grade increases (WGIs) are not automatic promotions. They require an acceptable level of performance and time in step: 1 year (steps 1–3), 2 years (steps 4–6), and 3 years (steps 7–9). Agencies may also grant a quality step increase for outstanding performance. Moving to a higher grade (for example GS-9 to GS-11) is a promotion with its own qualifying rules and typically a pay-setting formula so you do not lose money relative to your prior step.

Worked example

Suppose you are a GS-9 Step 5 in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington locality (33.94%) in 2026:

1. Base pay (GS-9 Step 5) = $59,759
2. Locality-adjusted annual = 59,759 × 1.3394 ≈ $80,041
3. Biweekly ≈ $3,078; hourly ≈ $38.35 (÷ 2,087)

Compare the same grade and step in Rest of U.S. (17.06%) in the what-if panel to see how much locality alone changes the offer. Then open the California paycheck calculator for take-home estimates, the hourly to salary converter or overtime pay calculator for private-sector comparisons, and the Finance or Work hubs to browse related tools.

Methodology and notes

Rates reflect OPM’s published 2026 tables (January effective date). Locality percentages for 2026 were unchanged from 2025 while the base schedule increased 1%. This calculator does not apply special rate tables, law-enforcement officer (LEO) special bases, overtime, awards, or benefits. Optional future work: a GM pay calculator variant could reuse the same GS-13–15 rows for manager pay plans that share the GS table.