GS pay scale 2026
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-22

San Diego, CA GS pay scale 2026: 33.72% locality pay

In 2026 a GS-12 step 5 here earns $115,880 with 33.72% locality pay, but prices above the national average cut what it buys to $103,569 at U.S. prices.

#6 on paper, #46 after prices

−40Places lost, of 57 priced areas.

Buys at U.S. prices

$103,569BEA price level 111.9, for San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA.

Ceiling watch

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

Against Rest of U.S.

+$14,437over $101,443 at GS-12 step 5, on paper.

Rest of U.S. buys as much at

97.9or lower prices, U.S. = 100, against 111.9 here; 24 of the 57 priced areas are that cheap (the two side by side).

Key facts

Locality pay change since 2016: +8.99 points
Pay gap, latest council estimate: 78.28%
Rate the 1990 formula would set: 69.79%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025: 47,564
Share of all jobs here: 3.10%
Largest county by federal jobs: San Diego County, CA: 47,564

Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate

A yearAn hourEvery two weeks

▲ marks the 4 cells cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling. Reading these tables.
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	30,199	31,212	32,216	33,216	34,218	34,805	35,798	36,798	36,840	37,773
GS-2	33,956	34,763	35,889	36,840	37,252	38,347	39,442	40,537	41,632	42,728
GS-3	37,051	38,287	39,522	40,758	41,993	43,229	44,465	45,700	46,936	48,171
GS-4	41,591	42,978	44,364	45,751	47,138	48,524	49,911	51,298	52,684	54,071
GS-5	46,533	48,084	49,636	51,187	52,738	54,289	55,840	57,391	58,942	60,494
GS-6	51,871	53,600	55,329	57,058	58,787	60,516	62,245	63,974	65,703	67,432
GS-7	57,641	59,563	61,484	63,406	65,328	67,249	69,171	71,092	73,014	74,935
GS-8	63,835	65,963	68,090	70,218	72,345	74,473	76,600	78,728	80,855	82,983
GS-9	70,507	72,857	75,208	77,559	79,910	82,261	84,611	86,962	89,313	91,664
GS-10	77,643	80,231	82,818	85,406	87,993	90,581	93,168	95,756	98,343	100,931
GS-11	85,307	88,151	90,995	93,839	96,684	99,528	102,372	105,216	108,060	110,905
GS-12	102,246	105,655	109,063	112,472	115,880	119,289	122,697	126,106	129,515	132,923
GS-13	121,585	125,638	129,691	133,744	137,797	141,850	145,903	149,956	154,009	158,062
GS-14	143,677	148,467	153,256	158,046	162,836	167,626	172,416	177,206	181,996	186,785
GS-15	169,001	174,634	180,268	185,902	191,535	197,169	197,200	197,200	197,200	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	14.47	14.96	15.44	15.92	16.40	16.68	17.15	17.63	17.65	18.10
GS-2	16.27	16.66	17.20	17.65	17.85	18.37	18.90	19.42	19.95	20.47
GS-3	17.75	18.35	18.94	19.53	20.12	20.71	21.31	21.90	22.49	23.08
GS-4	19.93	20.59	21.26	21.92	22.59	23.25	23.92	24.58	25.24	25.91
GS-5	22.30	23.04	23.78	24.53	25.27	26.01	26.76	27.50	28.24	28.99
GS-6	24.85	25.68	26.51	27.34	28.17	29.00	29.83	30.65	31.48	32.31
GS-7	27.62	28.54	29.46	30.38	31.30	32.22	33.14	34.06	34.99	35.91
GS-8	30.59	31.61	32.63	33.65	34.66	35.68	36.70	37.72	38.74	39.76
GS-9	33.78	34.91	36.04	37.16	38.29	39.42	40.54	41.67	42.79	43.92
GS-10	37.20	38.44	39.68	40.92	42.16	43.40	44.64	45.88	47.12	48.36
GS-11	40.88	42.24	43.60	44.96	46.33	47.69	49.05	50.41	51.78	53.14
GS-12	48.99	50.63	52.26	53.89	55.52	57.16	58.79	60.42	62.06	63.69
GS-13	58.26	60.20	62.14	64.08	66.03	67.97	69.91	71.85	73.79	75.74
GS-14	68.84	71.14	73.43	75.73	78.02	80.32	82.61	84.91	87.20	89.50
GS-15	80.98	83.68	86.38	89.08	91.78	94.47	94.49	94.49	94.49	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	1,157.60	1,196.80	1,235.20	1,273.60	1,312.00	1,334.40	1,372.00	1,410.40	1,412.00	1,448.00
GS-2	1,301.60	1,332.80	1,376.00	1,412.00	1,428.00	1,469.60	1,512.00	1,553.60	1,596.00	1,637.60
GS-3	1,420.00	1,468.00	1,515.20	1,562.40	1,609.60	1,656.80	1,704.80	1,752.00	1,799.20	1,846.40
GS-4	1,594.40	1,647.20	1,700.80	1,753.60	1,807.20	1,860.00	1,913.60	1,966.40	2,019.20	2,072.80
GS-5	1,784.00	1,843.20	1,902.40	1,962.40	2,021.60	2,080.80	2,140.80	2,200.00	2,259.20	2,319.20
GS-6	1,988.00	2,054.40	2,120.80	2,187.20	2,253.60	2,320.00	2,386.40	2,452.00	2,518.40	2,584.80
GS-7	2,209.60	2,283.20	2,356.80	2,430.40	2,504.00	2,577.60	2,651.20	2,724.80	2,799.20	2,872.80
GS-8	2,447.20	2,528.80	2,610.40	2,692.00	2,772.80	2,854.40	2,936.00	3,017.60	3,099.20	3,180.80
GS-9	2,702.40	2,792.80	2,883.20	2,972.80	3,063.20	3,153.60	3,243.20	3,333.60	3,423.20	3,513.60
GS-10	2,976.00	3,075.20	3,174.40	3,273.60	3,372.80	3,472.00	3,571.20	3,670.40	3,769.60	3,868.80
GS-11	3,270.40	3,379.20	3,488.00	3,596.80	3,706.40	3,815.20	3,924.00	4,032.80	4,142.40	4,251.20
GS-12	3,919.20	4,050.40	4,180.80	4,311.20	4,441.60	4,572.80	4,703.20	4,833.60	4,964.80	5,095.20
GS-13	4,660.80	4,816.00	4,971.20	5,126.40	5,282.40	5,437.60	5,592.80	5,748.00	5,903.20	6,059.20
GS-14	5,507.20	5,691.20	5,874.40	6,058.40	6,241.60	6,425.60	6,608.80	6,792.80	6,976.00	7,160.00
GS-15	6,478.40	6,694.40	6,910.40	7,126.40	7,342.40	7,557.60	7,559.20	7,559.20	7,559.20	7,559.20

Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-SD, 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
43	Harrisburg-Lebanon, PA	$103,497	98.7	$104,913
44	Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA	$118,264	113.6	$104,137
45	Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA	$109,303	105.4	$103,682
46	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$115,880	111.9	$103,569
47	Las Vegas-Henderson, NV-AZ	$103,618	100.2	$103,396
48	Colorado Springs, CO	$104,121	100.7	$103,390
49	Phoenix-Mesa, AZ	$106,114	103.3	$102,708

It ranks #6 on paper and #46 once local prices are counted, a drop of 40 places, the second-biggest of the 57 areas, shared with Seattle, WA.

Rent here is the second-highest of the 57 areas with a price index: BEA puts housing at 179.3, 78.1% above the U.S. level, while all prices together are 11.9% above the U.S. level, at 111.9.

BEA price levels, 2024, for the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area (how to read this table).
Kind of spending	Here	U.S.	Rank of 57
Goods	108.0	99.6	#3
Housing (rent)	179.3	100.6	#2
Utilities	174.2	98.4	#2
Other services	99.6	100.1	#23
All items	111.9	100.0	#4

Prices here have been rising faster than in the country as a whole: BLS consumer prices for the San Diego-Carlsbad, CA area rose 4.7% in the twelve months to September 2026, against 3.7% for the U.S. city average over the same months.

Locality pay since 2016

24.73% in 2016, 33.72% in 2026, up 8.99 points; Rest of U.S. up 2.71: chart and table

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
San Diego, CA	24.73	26.98	27.88	28.80	29.77	29.77	30.87	32.01	33.05	33.72	33.72
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

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	78.28	69.79	33.72
2025	March 2023	Locality pay area	80.50	71.90	33.72
2024	March 2022	Locality pay area	78.02	69.54	33.05
2023	March 2021	Locality pay area	73.30	65.05	32.01
2022	March 2020	Locality pay area	71.75	63.57	30.87
2021	March 2019	Locality pay area	76.97	68.54	29.77
2020	March 2018	Locality pay area	78.76	70.25	29.77
2019	March 2017	Locality pay area	78.60	70.10	28.80
2018	March 2016	Locality pay area	77.56	69.10	27.88

Pay here is further from the 1990 pay law’s formula than in most areas: the formula would set 69.79%, 36.07 points above the 33.72% paid in 2026, against a median distance of 18.40 points across the 57 areas with a formula rate.

Federal jobs

In San Diego County, California, Postal Service in, military out; BLS, 2023, 2024, 2025. BLS has another 9,710 federal jobs in California 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	47,550	3.12	$104,262
2024	48,138	3.13	$109,083
2025	47,564	3.10	$111,044

Federal jobs here fell less than half as fast as across all areas: 574 fewer than in 2024, down 1.19%, against a drop of 2.95% across the 58 areas together.

Counties

1 county paid at this rate

California, 1 county

San Diego County

Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions.