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- Los Angeles, CA vs Washington, DC
2026 editionEffective January 202658 locality pay areasData last changed 2026-08-25
Los Angeles, CA vs Washington, DC: GS pay compared, 2026
The same grade and step pays $2,193 more a year in Los Angeles, CA. Whether that leaves you better off is a different question, and this page answers it.
That is how much more a GS-12 step 5 is worth in Washington, DC than in Los Angeles, CA, once local prices are counted — even though Los Angeles, CA pays $2,193 more on paper.
| Los Angeles, CA | Washington, DC | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary on paper | $118,264 | $116,071 |
| Locality pay | 36.47% | 33.94% |
| Local price level | 113.6 | 108.9 |
| What it buys | $104,137 | $106,601 |
| Rank on paper | #3 | #5 |
| Rank by what it buys | #44 | #34 |
The first two columns are the salaries as published. The last column is the difference in what those salaries buy after local prices — positive means Los Angeles, CA comes out ahead, negative means Washington, DC does. Cells marked ▲ have been cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling.
| Grade | Los Angeles, CA | Washington, DC | Difference after prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| GS-1 | 34,921 | 34,274 | −728 |
| GS-2 | 38,018 | 37,313 | −792 |
| GS-3 | 42,857 | 42,063 | −893 |
| GS-4 | 48,107 | 47,215 | −1,002 |
| GS-5 | 53,822 | 52,825 | −1,122 |
| GS-6 | 59,996 | 58,884 | −1,250 |
| GS-7 | 66,671 | 65,435 | −1,389 |
| GS-8 | 73,833 | 72,464 | −1,538 |
| GS-9 | 81,553 | 80,041 | −1,699 |
| GS-10 | 89,803 | 88,138 | −1,871 |
| GS-11 | 98,672 | 96,843 | −2,056 |
| GS-12 | 118,264 | 116,071 | −2,464 |
| GS-13 | 140,631 | 138,024 | −2,930 |
| GS-14 | 166,185 | 163,104 | −3,463 |
| GS-15 | 195,474 | 191,850 | −4,073 |
Step by step at GS-12
Comparing offers rarely means comparing the same cell. This is GS-12 across all ten steps in both areas, so a step 3 offer in one can be read against a step 7 offer in the other without arithmetic.
| GS-12 | Los Angeles, CA | Washington, DC | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | 104,349 | 102,415 | 1,934 |
| Step 2 | 107,828 | 105,829 | 1,999 |
| Step 3 | 111,306 | 109,243 | 2,063 |
| Step 4 | 114,785 | 112,657 | 2,128 |
| Step 5 | 118,264 | 116,071 | 2,193 |
| Step 6 | 121,742 | 119,485 | 2,257 |
| Step 7 | 125,221 | 122,899 | 2,322 |
| Step 8 | 128,699 | 126,313 | 2,386 |
| Step 9 | 132,178 | 129,728 | 2,450 |
| Step 10 | 135,657 | 133,142 | 2,515 |
The gap in the last column is the one on the offer letter. After local prices, $2,193 of extra salary at step 5 is worth $-2,464 of extra purchasing power — about -112% of what it looks like. The rest is absorbed by the difference in what things cost.
Overtime is capped, and the cap differs
Under 5 U.S.C. 5542 an overtime hour is paid at one and a half times your hourly rate only while that rate stays at or below the hourly rate of GS-10 step 1 in your own locality. Above it, the hour is paid at the greater of your own rate and one and a half times that GS-10 step 1 figure — not both.
That threshold is a local number, so it differs between these two areas: $37.97 an hour in Los Angeles, CA against $37.26 in Washington, DC. A GS-12 step 5 earns $56.67 an hour in Los Angeles, CA and $55.62 in Washington, DC, and is paid $56.96 and $55.89 respectively for an overtime hour.
In both areas the overtime hour still carries a genuine premium at this grade. It stops doing so higher up the schedule, and sooner in the better-paid area.
The same money, a grade lower
Prices in Los Angeles, CA are higher, so a salary there does less work. The question that follows is obvious: what would you have to earn in Washington, DC to be equally well off? These are the equivalents, at the same step:
- A GS-11 step 5 in Los Angeles, CA is matched by a GS-10 step 8 in Washington, DC.
- A GS-12 step 5 in Los Angeles, CA is matched by a GS-12 step 5 in Washington, DC.
- A GS-13 step 5 in Los Angeles, CA is matched by a GS-13 step 5 in Washington, DC.
- A GS-14 step 5 in Los Angeles, CA is matched by a GS-14 step 5 in Washington, DC.
Read that in the other direction and it is a negotiating fact: a move from Washington, DC to Los Angeles, CA at the same grade is not a raise, whatever the offer letter says.
Where raises stop counting
No General Schedule rate may exceed Level IV of the Executive Schedule, $197,200 in 2026. Inside that band a step increase produces a bigger number in the formula, the law cuts it back, and the payslip does not move.
Washington, DC has 5 of its 150 cells pinned to the ceiling; Los Angeles, CA has 5. The higher-paying area runs out of room first, which matters more over a career than the difference in any single year.
What each area covers
Los Angeles, CA is the Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA locality pay area, 9 counties. Washington, DC is the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA area. 55 counties. Locality follows your duty station, not your home address and not your agency headquarters, so a house on the wrong side of a county line does not change the rate — the building you report to does.
The full Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA table: every grade and step. The full Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA table: every grade and step. To put your own grade and step against either, use the pay calculator.