GS pay scale 2026
Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-22

Corpus Christi, TX GS pay scale 2026: 17.63% locality pay

In 2026 a GS-12 step 5 here earns $101,937 with 17.63% locality pay, and prices below the national average stretch it to what $109,999 buys elsewhere.

#56 on paper, #19 after prices

+37Places gained, of 57 priced areas.

Buys at U.S. prices

$109,999BEA price level 92.7, for Corpus Christi, TX.

Ceiling watch

ClearNo cell reaches $197,200.

Key facts

Locality pay change since 2016: +3.28 points
Pay gap, latest council estimate: 29.07%
Rate the 1990 formula would set: not printed
Federal civilian jobs, 2025: 6,538
Share of all jobs here: 2.81%
Largest county by federal jobs: Nueces County, TX: 4,725

Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate

A yearAn hourEvery two weeks

No cell here reaches the $197,200 statutory ceiling. Reading these tables.
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	26,566	27,456	28,339	29,219	30,100	30,617	31,491	32,371	32,407	33,228
GS-2	29,870	30,580	31,571	32,407	32,769	33,733	34,696	35,660	36,623	37,586
GS-3	32,593	33,680	34,767	35,854	36,941	38,027	39,114	40,201	41,288	42,375
GS-4	36,586	37,806	39,026	40,246	41,466	42,686	43,905	45,125	46,345	47,565
GS-5	40,934	42,299	43,663	45,028	46,392	47,757	49,121	50,486	51,850	53,215
GS-6	45,630	47,151	48,672	50,193	51,714	53,235	54,756	56,277	57,798	59,318
GS-7	50,706	52,396	54,086	55,777	57,467	59,157	60,848	62,538	64,228	65,919
GS-8	56,154	58,026	59,897	61,769	63,640	65,512	67,383	69,255	71,126	72,998
GS-9	62,023	64,091	66,159	68,227	70,295	72,362	74,430	76,498	78,566	80,634
GS-10	68,301	70,577	72,853	75,129	77,405	79,681	81,958	84,234	86,510	88,786
GS-11	75,042	77,544	80,046	82,548	85,050	87,552	90,054	92,556	95,058	97,560
GS-12	89,943	92,942	95,940	98,939	101,937	104,935	107,934	110,932	113,931	116,929
GS-13	106,955	110,520	114,086	117,651	121,217	124,782	128,347	131,913	135,478	139,043
GS-14	126,389	130,602	134,816	139,029	143,243	147,456	151,670	155,883	160,097	164,310
GS-15	148,665	153,621	158,577	163,533	168,489	173,444	178,400	183,356	188,312	193,267

Annual rate divided by 2,087 hours (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)), as in OPM’s hourly table.
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	12.73	13.16	13.58	14.00	14.42	14.67	15.09	15.51	15.53	15.92
GS-2	14.31	14.65	15.13	15.53	15.70	16.16	16.62	17.09	17.55	18.01
GS-3	15.62	16.14	16.66	17.18	17.70	18.22	18.74	19.26	19.78	20.30
GS-4	17.53	18.11	18.70	19.28	19.87	20.45	21.04	21.62	22.21	22.79
GS-5	19.61	20.27	20.92	21.58	22.23	22.88	23.54	24.19	24.84	25.50
GS-6	21.86	22.59	23.32	24.05	24.78	25.51	26.24	26.97	27.69	28.42
GS-7	24.30	25.11	25.92	26.73	27.54	28.35	29.16	29.97	30.78	31.59
GS-8	26.91	27.80	28.70	29.60	30.49	31.39	32.29	33.18	34.08	34.98
GS-9	29.72	30.71	31.70	32.69	33.68	34.67	35.66	36.65	37.65	38.64
GS-10	32.73	33.82	34.91	36.00	37.09	38.18	39.27	40.36	41.45	42.54
GS-11	35.96	37.16	38.35	39.55	40.75	41.95	43.15	44.35	45.55	46.75
GS-12	43.10	44.53	45.97	47.41	48.84	50.28	51.72	53.15	54.59	56.03
GS-13	51.25	52.96	54.67	56.37	58.08	59.79	61.50	63.21	64.92	66.62
GS-14	60.56	62.58	64.60	66.62	68.64	70.65	72.67	74.69	76.71	78.73
GS-15	71.23	73.61	75.98	78.36	80.73	83.11	85.48	87.86	90.23	92.61

Hourly rate times 80 (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)).
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	1,018.40	1,052.80	1,086.40	1,120.00	1,153.60	1,173.60	1,207.20	1,240.80	1,242.40	1,273.60
GS-2	1,144.80	1,172.00	1,210.40	1,242.40	1,256.00	1,292.80	1,329.60	1,367.20	1,404.00	1,440.80
GS-3	1,249.60	1,291.20	1,332.80	1,374.40	1,416.00	1,457.60	1,499.20	1,540.80	1,582.40	1,624.00
GS-4	1,402.40	1,448.80	1,496.00	1,542.40	1,589.60	1,636.00	1,683.20	1,729.60	1,776.80	1,823.20
GS-5	1,568.80	1,621.60	1,673.60	1,726.40	1,778.40	1,830.40	1,883.20	1,935.20	1,987.20	2,040.00
GS-6	1,748.80	1,807.20	1,865.60	1,924.00	1,982.40	2,040.80	2,099.20	2,157.60	2,215.20	2,273.60
GS-7	1,944.00	2,008.80	2,073.60	2,138.40	2,203.20	2,268.00	2,332.80	2,397.60	2,462.40	2,527.20
GS-8	2,152.80	2,224.00	2,296.00	2,368.00	2,439.20	2,511.20	2,583.20	2,654.40	2,726.40	2,798.40
GS-9	2,377.60	2,456.80	2,536.00	2,615.20	2,694.40	2,773.60	2,852.80	2,932.00	3,012.00	3,091.20
GS-10	2,618.40	2,705.60	2,792.80	2,880.00	2,967.20	3,054.40	3,141.60	3,228.80	3,316.00	3,403.20
GS-11	2,876.80	2,972.80	3,068.00	3,164.00	3,260.00	3,356.00	3,452.00	3,548.00	3,644.00	3,740.00
GS-12	3,448.00	3,562.40	3,677.60	3,792.80	3,907.20	4,022.40	4,137.60	4,252.00	4,367.20	4,482.40
GS-13	4,100.00	4,236.80	4,373.60	4,509.60	4,646.40	4,783.20	4,920.00	5,056.80	5,193.60	5,329.60
GS-14	4,844.80	5,006.40	5,168.00	5,329.60	5,491.20	5,652.00	5,813.60	5,975.20	6,136.80	6,298.40
GS-15	5,698.40	5,888.80	6,078.40	6,268.80	6,458.40	6,648.80	6,838.40	7,028.80	7,218.40	7,408.80

Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-CC, matched cell by cell; compare with Rest of U.S..

After local prices

Its neighbors by what it buys (how; all 57).
#	Locality	On paper	Price level	What it buys
16	Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN	$105,663	95.4	$110,793
17	Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV	$104,883	94.7	$110,787
18	Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY	$106,079	95.8	$110,679
19	Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX	$101,937	92.7	$109,999
20	Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI	$113,402	103.6	$109,467
21	Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI	$106,088	96.9	$109,440
22	St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL	$104,017	95.1	$109,390

BEA price levels, 2024, for the Corpus Christi, TX metro area (how to read this table).
Kind of spending	Here	U.S.	Rank of 57
Goods	93.8	99.6	#48 (tied)
Housing (rent)	84.9	100.6	#47
Utilities	81.0	98.4	#53
Other services	96.2	100.1	#49 (tied)
All items	92.7	100.0	#50 (tied)

Locality pay since 2016

Dashed: the Rest of U.S. rate.

Percent, from OPM’s tables for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026. Grey: the Rest of U.S. rate its counties were paid before it had a table of its own. Sources and caveats; every area since 2016: ten years of locality pay.
Locality pay, %	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Corpus Christi, TX	14.35	15.06	15.37	16.01	16.56	16.56	16.82	17.10	17.40	17.63	17.63
Rest of U.S.	14.35	15.06	15.37	15.67	15.95	15.95	16.20	16.50	16.82	17.06	17.06

Corpus Christi, TX got a locality pay table of its own in 2019; the grey figures before that are the Rest of U.S. rate its counties were paid.

The 1990 pay law’s formula

The editions checked here, the memos for pay in 2018 to 2026. Formula rate “—”: the memos print none for a Rest of U.S. research area, whose gap is from the memo’s research-area table; in the editions for pay in 2023 to 2026 the area’s gap is below Rest of U.S.’s, and the memo gives it the Rest of U.S. target instead of a rate of its own, which is not repeated here. 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 in	Data as of	Listed as	Pay gap, %	Formula rate, %	Rate paid that year, %
2026	March 2024	Locality pay area	29.07	—	17.63
2025	March 2023	Locality pay area	35.90	—	17.63
2024	March 2022	Locality pay area	33.66	—	17.40
2023	March 2021	Locality pay area	29.39	—	17.10
2022	March 2020	Locality pay area	30.76	24.53	16.82
2021	March 2019	Locality pay area	35.51	29.06	16.56
2020	March 2018	Locality pay area	46.25	39.29	16.56
2019	March 2017	Rest of U.S. research area	52.33	—	16.01
2018	March 2016	Rest of U.S. research area	49.11	—	15.37

Its latest gap, 29.07%, is below the 36.06% the council estimates for Rest of U.S., and an area whose gap is lower than Rest of U.S.’s is given the Rest of U.S. target rather than a rate of its own. The table shows its own formula rate for pay in 2020 to 2022, when its gap was higher; the later editions give it the Rest of U.S. target, and the figure printed in the latest memo does not even match that edition’s Rest of U.S. target, so this page does not repeat it.

Across the nine editions checked here, the estimate for Corpus Christi, TX has run from 29.07% (for pay in 2026) to 52.33% (for pay in 2019), the third-widest swing of the 56 areas with a gap in all of them.

Since the edition for pay in 2018, the first checked here, the estimate for Corpus Christi, TX has fallen 20.04 points, from 49.11% to 29.07%, the second-biggest fall of the 56 areas with a gap in all nine editions.

Corpus Christi, TX is a separate locality pay area in the memos from the edition for pay in 2020; before that, in two editions it is a Rest of U.S. research area, with a gap of 49.11% to 52.33%.

Federal jobs

6,538 federal civilian jobs in 2025, 153 fewer than in 2024, down 2.29%: table

In this area’s 10 counties, Postal Service in, military out; BLS, 2023, 2024, 2025. BLS has another 13,060 federal jobs in Texas 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.
Year	Federal civilian jobs	Share of all jobs, %	Average pay per job
2023	6,796	2.96	$82,243
2024	6,691	2.90	$86,594
2025	6,538	2.81	$94,074

Counties

10 counties paid at this rate

Texas, 10 counties

Aransas County
Brooks County (added 2023)
Duval County (added 2024)
Jim Wells County
Kenedy County
Kleberg County
Live Oak County (added 2024)
Nueces County
Refugio County (added 2024)
San Patricio County

Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions.