INDEPENDENTREFERENCEGSGS Pay TablesWhat the federal pay tables mean 2026 edition
Effective January 2026

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Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI$113,402a year$4,347.20Every two weeks$54.34Per hour$54.62Overtime hour#11On paper#20After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-22

Chicago, IL GS pay scale 2026: 30.86% locality pay

In 2026 a GS-12 step 5 here earns $113,402 with 30.86% locality pay, but prices above the national average cut what it buys to $109,467 at U.S. prices.

#11 on paper, #20 after prices

−9Places lost, of 57 priced areas.

Buys at U.S. prices

$109,467BEA price level 103.6, for Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN.

Ceiling watch

4 of 150cells held to $197,200, from GS-15 step 7.

Key facts

Locality pay change since 2016
+5.42 points
Pay gap, latest council estimate
57.95%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
50.43%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
57,438
Share of all jobs here
1.18%
Largest county by federal jobs
Cook County, IL: 40,100
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate

▲ marks the 4 cells cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling. Reading these tables.
Grade12345678910
GS-129,55330,54431,52732,50633,48634,06035,03336,01136,05236,965
GS-233,22934,02035,12236,05236,45537,52738,59839,67040,74241,814
GS-336,25937,46838,67739,88641,09542,30443,51444,72345,93247,141
GS-440,70142,05843,41544,77246,12947,48648,84350,20151,55852,915
GS-545,53847,05648,57450,09251,61053,12854,64656,16457,68259,200
GS-650,76252,45454,14655,83857,53059,22260,91462,60664,29865,990
GS-756,40958,28960,16962,05063,93065,81167,69169,57271,45273,333
GS-862,47064,55266,63468,71670,79872,88074,96277,04479,12681,208
GS-968,99971,29973,60075,90078,20180,50182,80285,10287,40389,703
GS-1075,98378,51581,04783,57986,11188,64391,17593,70896,24098,772
GS-1183,48286,26689,04991,83294,61697,399100,182102,966105,749108,533
GS-12100,059103,395106,731110,066113,402116,738120,073123,409126,744130,080
GS-13118,984122,951126,917130,884134,850138,816142,783146,749150,715154,682
GS-14140,604145,291149,979154,666159,353164,041168,728173,416178,103182,790
GS-15165,386170,899176,412181,925187,439192,952197,200197,200197,200197,200
Annual rate divided by 2,087 hours (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)), as in OPM’s hourly table.
Grade12345678910
GS-114.1614.6415.1115.5816.0516.3216.7917.2517.2717.71
GS-215.9216.3016.8317.2717.4717.9818.4919.0119.5220.04
GS-317.3717.9518.5319.1119.6920.2720.8521.4322.0122.59
GS-419.5020.1520.8021.4522.1022.7523.4024.0524.7025.35
GS-521.8222.5523.2724.0024.7325.4626.1826.9127.6428.37
GS-624.3225.1325.9426.7627.5728.3829.1930.0030.8131.62
GS-727.0327.9328.8329.7330.6331.5332.4333.3434.2435.14
GS-829.9330.9331.9332.9333.9234.9235.9236.9237.9138.91
GS-933.0634.1635.2736.3737.4738.5739.6840.7841.8842.98
GS-1036.4137.6238.8340.0541.2642.4743.6944.9046.1147.33
GS-1140.0041.3342.6744.0045.3446.6748.0049.3450.6752.00
GS-1247.9449.5451.1452.7454.3455.9457.5359.1360.7362.33
GS-1357.0158.9160.8162.7164.6166.5168.4270.3272.2274.12
GS-1467.3769.6271.8674.1176.3678.6080.8583.0985.3487.59
GS-1579.2581.8984.5387.1789.8192.4594.4994.4994.4994.49
Hourly rate times 80 (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)).
Grade12345678910
GS-11,132.801,171.201,208.801,246.401,284.001,305.601,343.201,380.001,381.601,416.80
GS-21,273.601,304.001,346.401,381.601,397.601,438.401,479.201,520.801,561.601,603.20
GS-31,389.601,436.001,482.401,528.801,575.201,621.601,668.001,714.401,760.801,807.20
GS-41,560.001,612.001,664.001,716.001,768.001,820.001,872.001,924.001,976.002,028.00
GS-51,745.601,804.001,861.601,920.001,978.402,036.802,094.402,152.802,211.202,269.60
GS-61,945.602,010.402,075.202,140.802,205.602,270.402,335.202,400.002,464.802,529.60
GS-72,162.402,234.402,306.402,378.402,450.402,522.402,594.402,667.202,739.202,811.20
GS-82,394.402,474.402,554.402,634.402,713.602,793.602,873.602,953.603,032.803,112.80
GS-92,644.802,732.802,821.602,909.602,997.603,085.603,174.403,262.403,350.403,438.40
GS-102,912.803,009.603,106.403,204.003,300.803,397.603,495.203,592.003,688.803,786.40
GS-113,200.003,306.403,413.603,520.003,627.203,733.603,840.003,947.204,053.604,160.00
GS-123,835.203,963.204,091.204,219.204,347.204,475.204,602.404,730.404,858.404,986.40
GS-134,560.804,712.804,864.805,016.805,168.805,320.805,473.605,625.605,777.605,929.60
GS-145,389.605,569.605,748.805,928.806,108.806,288.006,468.006,647.206,827.207,007.20
GS-156,340.006,551.206,762.406,973.607,184.807,396.007,559.207,559.207,559.207,559.20
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-CHI, matched cell by cell; compare with Rest of U.S..

After local prices

Its neighbors by what it buys (how; all 57).
#LocalityOn paperPrice levelWhat it buys
17Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV$104,88394.7$110,787
18Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY$106,07995.8$110,679
19Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX$101,93792.7$109,999
20Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI$113,402103.6$109,467
21Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI$106,08896.9$109,440
22St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL$104,01795.1$109,390
23Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD$111,781102.6$108,997
BEA price levels, 2024, for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (how to read this table).
Kind of spendingHereU.S.Rank of 57
Goods107.399.6#4
Housing (rent)112.0100.6#20
Utilities83.698.4#49
Other services100.5100.1#15
All items103.6100.0#14

Prices here have been rising more slowly than in the country as a whole: BLS consumer prices for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI area rose 2.9% in the twelve months to September 2026, against 3.7% for the U.S. city average over the same months.

Locality pay since 2016

0%25%50%20162026
Dashed: the Rest of U.S. rate.
Percent, from OPM’s tables for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026. Sources and caveats; every area since 2016: ten years of locality pay.
Locality pay, %20162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Chicago, IL25.4426.8527.4728.0528.5928.5929.1829.7930.4130.8630.86
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

Among the 46 areas with a table of their own since 2016, it has slipped from 6th to 11th by locality percentage, the third-biggest slide of them, shared with Cleveland, OH.

The 1990 pay law’s formula

Formula 50.43%, paid 30.86%: 19.57 points apart (median 18.40); nine editions: table
The editions checked here, the memos for pay in 2018 to 2026. Sources: memo of January 10, 2025, Attachment 1, and the council’s earlier memos; the President’s Pay Agent on 2026; what these estimates are and are not; every area against the formula: how far pay is from the 1990 law.
Edition, for pay inData as ofListed asPay gap, %Formula rate, %Rate paid that year, %
2026March 2024Locality pay area57.9550.4330.86
2025March 2023Locality pay area64.2756.4530.86
2024March 2022Locality pay area59.9952.3730.41
2023March 2021Locality pay area54.7547.3829.79
2022March 2020Locality pay area54.0446.7029.18
2021March 2019Locality pay area54.5647.2028.59
2020March 2018Locality pay area58.6651.1028.59
2019March 2017Locality pay area61.9754.2628.05
2018March 2016Locality pay area63.8056.0027.47

Federal jobs

57,438 federal civilian jobs in 2025, 1,838 fewer than in 2024, down 3.10%: table
In this area’s 25 counties, Postal Service in, military out; BLS, 2023, 2024, 2025. BLS has another 4,863 federal jobs in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin with no county; the states page counts them with the state, not with any area. Sources and caveats; every area: where the federal jobs are.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202357,7061.20$96,625
202459,2761.22$100,568
202557,4381.18$104,542

Counties

25 counties paid at this rate

Illinois, 18 counties

  • Boone County (added 2024)
  • Bureau County
  • Cook County
  • DeKalb County
  • DuPage County
  • Grundy County
  • Iroquois County (added 2024)
  • Kane County
  • Kankakee County
  • Kendall County
  • LaSalle County
  • Lake County
  • McHenry County
  • Ogle County (added 2024)
  • Putnam County
  • Stephenson County (added 2024)
  • Will County
  • Winnebago County (added 2024)

Indiana, 6 counties

  • Jasper County
  • LaPorte County
  • Lake County
  • Newton County
  • Porter County
  • Starke County (added 2024)

Wisconsin, 1 county

  • Kenosha County
Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions.

Its counties lie in three states, the fifth-most of any area, as many as Cincinnati, OH and Pittsburgh, PA.