GS pay scale 2026
Rest of U.S.

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-22

Rest of U.S. GS pay scale 2026: 17.06% locality pay

In 2026 a GS-12 step 5 here earns $101,443 with 17.06% locality pay.

Rank

—No published price index.

Locality pay

17.06%On every grade and step.

Ceiling watch

ClearNo cell reaches $197,200.

Key facts

Locality pay change since 2016: +2.71 points
Pay gap, latest council estimate: 36.06%
Rate the 1990 formula would set: 29.58%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025: 817,879
Share of all jobs here: 1.82%
Largest county by federal jobs: Oklahoma County, OK: 29,047

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	26,437	27,323	28,202	29,078	29,954	30,468	31,338	32,214	32,250	33,067
GS-2	29,725	30,432	31,418	32,250	32,611	33,569	34,528	35,487	36,445	37,404
GS-3	32,435	33,517	34,598	35,680	36,762	37,843	38,925	40,006	41,088	42,170
GS-4	36,409	37,623	38,837	40,051	41,265	42,479	43,693	44,907	46,120	47,334
GS-5	40,736	42,094	43,452	44,809	46,167	47,525	48,883	50,241	51,599	52,957
GS-6	45,409	46,922	48,436	49,950	51,463	52,977	54,490	56,004	57,517	59,031
GS-7	50,460	52,142	53,824	55,506	57,188	58,871	60,553	62,235	63,917	65,599
GS-8	55,882	57,745	59,607	61,469	63,332	65,194	67,057	68,919	70,781	72,644
GS-9	61,722	63,780	65,838	67,896	69,954	72,012	74,070	76,128	78,186	80,243
GS-10	67,970	70,235	72,500	74,765	77,030	79,295	81,560	83,825	86,091	88,356
GS-11	74,678	77,168	79,658	82,148	84,638	87,128	89,618	92,107	94,597	97,087
GS-12	89,508	92,491	95,475	98,459	101,443	104,427	107,411	110,395	113,378	116,362
GS-13	106,437	109,985	113,533	117,081	120,629	124,177	127,725	131,273	134,822	138,370
GS-14	125,776	129,969	134,162	138,356	142,549	146,742	150,935	155,128	159,321	163,514
GS-15	147,945	152,877	157,809	162,740	167,672	172,604	177,536	182,467	187,399	192,331

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	12.67	13.09	13.51	13.93	14.35	14.60	15.02	15.44	15.45	15.84
GS-2	14.24	14.58	15.05	15.45	15.63	16.08	16.54	17.00	17.46	17.92
GS-3	15.54	16.06	16.58	17.10	17.61	18.13	18.65	19.17	19.69	20.21
GS-4	17.45	18.03	18.61	19.19	19.77	20.35	20.94	21.52	22.10	22.68
GS-5	19.52	20.17	20.82	21.47	22.12	22.77	23.42	24.07	24.72	25.37
GS-6	21.76	22.48	23.21	23.93	24.66	25.38	26.11	26.83	27.56	28.29
GS-7	24.18	24.98	25.79	26.60	27.40	28.21	29.01	29.82	30.63	31.43
GS-8	26.78	27.67	28.56	29.45	30.35	31.24	32.13	33.02	33.92	34.81
GS-9	29.57	30.56	31.55	32.53	33.52	34.51	35.49	36.48	37.46	38.45
GS-10	32.57	33.65	34.74	35.82	36.91	37.99	39.08	40.17	41.25	42.34
GS-11	35.78	36.98	38.17	39.36	40.55	41.75	42.94	44.13	45.33	46.52
GS-12	42.89	44.32	45.75	47.18	48.61	50.04	51.47	52.90	54.33	55.76
GS-13	51.00	52.70	54.40	56.10	57.80	59.50	61.20	62.90	64.60	66.30
GS-14	60.27	62.28	64.28	66.29	68.30	70.31	72.32	74.33	76.34	78.35
GS-15	70.89	73.25	75.62	77.98	80.34	82.70	85.07	87.43	89.79	92.16

Hourly rate times 80 (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)).
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	1,013.60	1,047.20	1,080.80	1,114.40	1,148.00	1,168.00	1,201.60	1,235.20	1,236.00	1,267.20
GS-2	1,139.20	1,166.40	1,204.00	1,236.00	1,250.40	1,286.40	1,323.20	1,360.00	1,396.80	1,433.60
GS-3	1,243.20	1,284.80	1,326.40	1,368.00	1,408.80	1,450.40	1,492.00	1,533.60	1,575.20	1,616.80
GS-4	1,396.00	1,442.40	1,488.80	1,535.20	1,581.60	1,628.00	1,675.20	1,721.60	1,768.00	1,814.40
GS-5	1,561.60	1,613.60	1,665.60	1,717.60	1,769.60	1,821.60	1,873.60	1,925.60	1,977.60	2,029.60
GS-6	1,740.80	1,798.40	1,856.80	1,914.40	1,972.80	2,030.40	2,088.80	2,146.40	2,204.80	2,263.20
GS-7	1,934.40	1,998.40	2,063.20	2,128.00	2,192.00	2,256.80	2,320.80	2,385.60	2,450.40	2,514.40
GS-8	2,142.40	2,213.60	2,284.80	2,356.00	2,428.00	2,499.20	2,570.40	2,641.60	2,713.60	2,784.80
GS-9	2,365.60	2,444.80	2,524.00	2,602.40	2,681.60	2,760.80	2,839.20	2,918.40	2,996.80	3,076.00
GS-10	2,605.60	2,692.00	2,779.20	2,865.60	2,952.80	3,039.20	3,126.40	3,213.60	3,300.00	3,387.20
GS-11	2,862.40	2,958.40	3,053.60	3,148.80	3,244.00	3,340.00	3,435.20	3,530.40	3,626.40	3,721.60
GS-12	3,431.20	3,545.60	3,660.00	3,774.40	3,888.80	4,003.20	4,117.60	4,232.00	4,346.40	4,460.80
GS-13	4,080.00	4,216.00	4,352.00	4,488.00	4,624.00	4,760.00	4,896.00	5,032.00	5,168.00	5,304.00
GS-14	4,821.60	4,982.40	5,142.40	5,303.20	5,464.00	5,624.80	5,785.60	5,946.40	6,107.20	6,268.00
GS-15	5,671.20	5,860.00	6,049.60	6,238.40	6,427.20	6,616.00	6,805.60	6,994.40	7,183.20	7,372.80

Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-RUS, matched cell by cell; compare with Washington, DC.

After local prices

Rest of U.S. is every county outside the named areas, spread across 43 of the 50 states, so it has no single published price index and is left out of this ranking rather than given an invented figure.

There is no breakdown of its prices into rent, goods, utilities and other services either; the BEA metro areas that lie wholly inside it are compared in the article on where GS pay goes furthest.

The Rest of U.S. rate since 2016

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
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

From 2016 to 2026 the Rest of U.S. rate rose 2.71 percentage points, from 14.35% to 17.06%, the smallest rise of the 58 areas; just above it are Cincinnati, OH and Reno, NV (+3.17 points each).

It has no county list of its own: the 24 areas that got a table of their own since 2016, 13 in 2016, 6 in 2019, 1 in 2021 and 4 in 2024, were all drawn from counties on its rate.

The 1990 pay law’s formula

Formula 29.58%, paid 17.06%: 12.52 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 in	Data as of	Listed as	Pay gap, %	Formula rate, %	Rate paid that year, %
2026	March 2024	Locality pay area	36.06	29.58	17.06
2025	March 2023	Locality pay area	37.18	30.65	17.06
2024	March 2022	Locality pay area	34.54	28.13	16.82
2023	March 2021	Locality pay area	31.40	25.14	16.50
2022	March 2020	Locality pay area	29.83	23.65	16.20
2021	March 2019	Locality pay area	32.43	26.12	15.95
2020	March 2018	Locality pay area	33.75	27.38	15.95
2019	March 2017	Locality pay area	35.99	29.51	15.67
2018	March 2016	Locality pay area	36.09	29.61	15.37

Federal jobs

In counties outside every named area, Postal Service in, military out; BLS, 2023, 2024, 2025. Sources and caveats; every area: where the federal jobs are.
Year	Federal civilian jobs	Share of all jobs, %	Average pay per job
2023	824,038	1.86	$83,743
2024	841,234	1.88	$87,526
2025	817,879	1.82	$90,634

No single county holds more than 3.6% of them, the smallest such share of the 56 areas with more than one county; the most, 29,047, are in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.

BLS also reports 103,573 federal jobs without a county; they cannot be placed in any area, Rest of U.S. included. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, also on the Rest of U.S. rate, add 21,701 federal jobs that are not counted here.

Where the Rest of U.S. rate applies

Every county outside the 57 named areas is on this rate, and in 8 states, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, it is the only rate: they have no named locality pay area at all.