GS pay scale 2026
Laredo, TX

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-22

Laredo, TX GS pay scale 2026: 21.59% locality pay

In 2026 a GS-12 step 5 here earns $105,369 with 21.59% locality pay, and prices below the national average stretch it to what $121,175 buys elsewhere.

#31 on paper, #1 after prices

+30Places gained, of 57 priced areas.

Buys at U.S. prices

$121,175BEA price level 87.0, for Laredo, TX.

Ceiling watch

1 of 150GS-15 step 10 is held to $197,200.

Key facts

Locality pay change since 2016: +7.00 points
Pay gap, latest council estimate: 46.22%
Rate the 1990 formula would set: 39.26%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025: 4,440
Share of all jobs here: 3.90%
Largest county by federal jobs: Webb County, TX: 4,064

Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate

A yearAn hourEvery two weeks

▲ marks the one cell cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling. Reading these tables.
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	27,460	28,380	29,293	30,203	31,114	31,647	32,551	33,460	33,498	34,347
GS-2	30,875	31,610	32,634	33,498	33,873	34,868	35,864	36,860	37,856	38,852
GS-3	33,690	34,814	35,937	37,061	38,184	39,308	40,431	41,555	42,678	43,802
GS-4	37,818	39,079	40,340	41,601	42,862	44,123	45,383	46,644	47,905	49,166
GS-5	42,312	43,723	45,133	46,543	47,954	49,364	50,775	52,185	53,596	55,006
GS-6	47,166	48,738	50,310	51,882	53,455	55,027	56,599	58,171	59,743	61,315
GS-7	52,413	54,160	55,907	57,654	59,402	61,149	62,896	64,643	66,391	68,138
GS-8	58,045	59,979	61,914	63,848	65,783	67,717	69,652	71,586	73,521	75,455
GS-9	64,111	66,248	68,386	70,523	72,661	74,799	76,936	79,074	81,211	83,349
GS-10	70,600	72,953	75,306	77,658	80,011	82,364	84,717	87,069	89,422	91,775
GS-11	77,568	80,155	82,741	85,327	87,913	90,499	93,086	95,672	98,258	100,844
GS-12	92,971	96,071	99,170	102,269	105,369	108,468	111,567	114,667	117,766	120,865
GS-13	110,556	114,241	117,926	121,612	125,297	128,983	132,668	136,353	140,039	143,724
GS-14	130,644	134,999	139,354	143,710	148,065	152,420	156,776	161,131	165,486	169,842
GS-15	153,670	158,793	163,915	169,038	174,161	179,283	184,406	189,528	194,651	197,200

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	13.16	13.60	14.04	14.47	14.91	15.16	15.60	16.03	16.05	16.46
GS-2	14.79	15.15	15.64	16.05	16.23	16.71	17.18	17.66	18.14	18.62
GS-3	16.14	16.68	17.22	17.76	18.30	18.83	19.37	19.91	20.45	20.99
GS-4	18.12	18.72	19.33	19.93	20.54	21.14	21.75	22.35	22.95	23.56
GS-5	20.27	20.95	21.63	22.30	22.98	23.65	24.33	25.00	25.68	26.36
GS-6	22.60	23.35	24.11	24.86	25.61	26.37	27.12	27.87	28.63	29.38
GS-7	25.11	25.95	26.79	27.63	28.46	29.30	30.14	30.97	31.81	32.65
GS-8	27.81	28.74	29.67	30.59	31.52	32.45	33.37	34.30	35.23	36.15
GS-9	30.72	31.74	32.77	33.79	34.82	35.84	36.86	37.89	38.91	39.94
GS-10	33.83	34.96	36.08	37.21	38.34	39.47	40.59	41.72	42.85	43.97
GS-11	37.17	38.41	39.65	40.89	42.12	43.36	44.60	45.84	47.08	48.32
GS-12	44.55	46.03	47.52	49.00	50.49	51.97	53.46	54.94	56.43	57.91
GS-13	52.97	54.74	56.51	58.27	60.04	61.80	63.57	65.33	67.10	68.87
GS-14	62.60	64.69	66.77	68.86	70.95	73.03	75.12	77.21	79.29	81.38
GS-15	73.63	76.09	78.54	81.00	83.45	85.90	88.36	90.81	93.27	94.49

Hourly rate times 80 (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)).
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	1,052.80	1,088.00	1,123.20	1,157.60	1,192.80	1,212.80	1,248.00	1,282.40	1,284.00	1,316.80
GS-2	1,183.20	1,212.00	1,251.20	1,284.00	1,298.40	1,336.80	1,374.40	1,412.80	1,451.20	1,489.60
GS-3	1,291.20	1,334.40	1,377.60	1,420.80	1,464.00	1,506.40	1,549.60	1,592.80	1,636.00	1,679.20
GS-4	1,449.60	1,497.60	1,546.40	1,594.40	1,643.20	1,691.20	1,740.00	1,788.00	1,836.00	1,884.80
GS-5	1,621.60	1,676.00	1,730.40	1,784.00	1,838.40	1,892.00	1,946.40	2,000.00	2,054.40	2,108.80
GS-6	1,808.00	1,868.00	1,928.80	1,988.80	2,048.80	2,109.60	2,169.60	2,229.60	2,290.40	2,350.40
GS-7	2,008.80	2,076.00	2,143.20	2,210.40	2,276.80	2,344.00	2,411.20	2,477.60	2,544.80	2,612.00
GS-8	2,224.80	2,299.20	2,373.60	2,447.20	2,521.60	2,596.00	2,669.60	2,744.00	2,818.40	2,892.00
GS-9	2,457.60	2,539.20	2,621.60	2,703.20	2,785.60	2,867.20	2,948.80	3,031.20	3,112.80	3,195.20
GS-10	2,706.40	2,796.80	2,886.40	2,976.80	3,067.20	3,157.60	3,247.20	3,337.60	3,428.00	3,517.60
GS-11	2,973.60	3,072.80	3,172.00	3,271.20	3,369.60	3,468.80	3,568.00	3,667.20	3,766.40	3,865.60
GS-12	3,564.00	3,682.40	3,801.60	3,920.00	4,039.20	4,157.60	4,276.80	4,395.20	4,514.40	4,632.80
GS-13	4,237.60	4,379.20	4,520.80	4,661.60	4,803.20	4,944.00	5,085.60	5,226.40	5,368.00	5,509.60
GS-14	5,008.00	5,175.20	5,341.60	5,508.80	5,676.00	5,842.40	6,009.60	6,176.80	6,343.20	6,510.40
GS-15	5,890.40	6,087.20	6,283.20	6,480.00	6,676.00	6,872.00	7,068.80	7,264.80	7,461.60	7,559.20

Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-LR, 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
1	Laredo, TX	$105,369	87.0	$121,175
2	Houston-The Woodlands, TX	$116,990	98.6	$118,616
3	Davenport-Moline, IA-IL	$103,064	89.1	$115,700
4	San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA	$126,817	110.4	$114,847

Cheap rent sets this area apart: BEA puts housing at 59.7, the lowest of the 57 areas with a price index and 40.6% below the U.S. level, while all prices together are 13.0% below the U.S. level, at 87.0.

BEA price levels, 2024, for the Laredo, 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)	59.7	100.6	#57
Utilities	80.6	98.4	#54
Other services	96.2	100.1	#49 (tied)
All items	87.0	100.0	#57

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. 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
Laredo, TX	14.59	16.68	17.40	18.22	18.88	18.88	19.85	20.64	21.33	21.59	21.59
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

Laredo, TX has had a locality pay table of its own only since 2016; before that its counties were paid the Rest of U.S. rate.

The 1990 pay law’s formula

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 in	Data as of	Listed as	Pay gap, %	Formula rate, %	Rate paid that year, %
2026	March 2024	Locality pay area	46.22	39.26	21.59
2025	March 2023	Locality pay area	43.50	36.67	21.59
2024	March 2022	Locality pay area	52.93	45.65	21.33
2023	March 2021	Locality pay area	50.72	43.54	20.64
2022	March 2020	Locality pay area	56.04	48.61	19.85
2021	March 2019	Locality pay area	79.21	70.68	18.88
2020	March 2018	Locality pay area	53.80	46.48	18.88
2019	March 2017	Locality pay area	63.18	55.41	18.22
2018	March 2016	Locality pay area	58.00	50.48	17.40

Across the nine editions checked here, the estimate for Laredo, TX has run from 43.50% (for pay in 2025) to 79.21% (for pay in 2021), the widest swing of the 56 areas with a gap in all of them; next comes Houston, TX (25.95 points).

In the latest edition the estimate for Laredo, TX rose 2.72 points, to 46.22%; the only other area where it rose is Seattle, WA.

Federal jobs

In this area’s 3 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	4,289	3.89	$115,786
2024	4,348	3.88	$122,068
2025	4,440	3.90	$131,887

Federal jobs here grew from 2024 to 2025, 92 more than in 2024, up 2.12%, in one of only three areas where they did not fall.

Counties

3 counties paid at this rate

Texas, 3 counties

Jim Hogg County (added 2024)
La Salle County (added 2024)
Webb County

Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions.