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- Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA
2026 editionEffective January 202658 locality pay areasData last changed 2026-08-25
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA GS pay scale, 2026
Every General Schedule rate for this locality pay area, what the 33.94% adjustment is actually worth once local prices are counted, and which cells stop growing because they hit the statutory ceiling.
How the number is assembled
- Base rate before locality
- $86,659
- Locality pay, 33.94%
- + $29,412
- Annual rate
- $116,071
Biweekly is the hourly rate times 80, the way OPM derives it — not the annual rate divided by 26.
Paid #5, 34th in what it buys
−29Places lost once local prices are counted, out of 57 areas with published price data.What it actually buys
$106,601at average U.S. prices, from a salary of $116,071. Local price level 108.9 against a national average of 100.Ceiling watch
5 of 150cells are pinned to the $197,200 statutory ceiling. Inside that band a step increase adds nothing.Every 2026 rate in Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA
All 150 cells, read from the published OPM table. Click any cell and the bar at the top of the page moves onto it — or use the arrow keys once a cell is selected.
Annual rates in U.S. dollars, read cell by cell from the published OPM table rather than calculated. The cell marked ◀ is GS-12 step 5, the one quoted at the top of this page. Cells marked ▲ have been cut down to the statutory ceiling of $197,200 — the printed number is lower than the formula would give.
| Grade | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS-1 | 30,249 | 31,263 | 32,269 | 33,271 | 34,274 | 34,862 | 35,857 | 36,859 | 36,900 | 37,835 |
| GS-2 | 34,011 | 34,820 | 35,948 | 36,900 | 37,313 | 38,410 | 39,507 | 40,604 | 41,701 | 42,798 |
| GS-3 | 37,112 | 38,350 | 39,587 | 40,825 | 42,063 | 43,300 | 44,538 | 45,775 | 47,013 | 48,251 |
| GS-4 | 41,659 | 43,048 | 44,437 | 45,826 | 47,215 | 48,604 | 49,993 | 51,382 | 52,771 | 54,160 |
| GS-5 | 46,610 | 48,163 | 49,717 | 51,271 | 52,825 | 54,378 | 55,932 | 57,486 | 59,039 | 60,593 |
| GS-6 | 51,957 | 53,689 | 55,420 | 57,152 | 58,884 | 60,616 | 62,348 | 64,080 | 65,811 | 67,543 |
| GS-7 | 57,736 | 59,661 | 61,586 | 63,510 | 65,435 | 67,360 | 69,284 | 71,209 | 73,134 | 75,059 |
| GS-8 | 63,940 | 66,071 | 68,202 | 70,333 | 72,464 | 74,595 | 76,726 | 78,857 | 80,988 | 83,119 |
| GS-9 | 70,623 | 72,977 | 75,332 | 77,687 | 80,041 | 82,396 | 84,751 | 87,105 | 89,460 | 91,815 |
| GS-10 | 77,771 | 80,363 | 82,954 | 85,546 | 88,138 | 90,730 | 93,321 | 95,913 | 98,505 | 101,097 |
| GS-11 | 85,447 | 88,296 | 91,145 | 93,994 | 96,843 | 99,692 | 102,540 | 105,389 | 108,238 | 111,087 |
| GS-12 | 102,415 | 105,829 | 109,243 | 112,657 | 116,071 | 119,485 | 122,899 | 126,313 | 129,728 | 133,142 |
| GS-13 | 121,785 | 125,845 | 129,904 | 133,964 | 138,024 | 142,084 | 146,143 | 150,203 | 154,263 | 158,322 |
| GS-14 | 143,913 | 148,711 | 153,509 | 158,306 | 163,104 | 167,902 | 172,700 | 177,497 | 182,295 | 187,093 |
| GS-15 | 169,279 | 174,922 | 180,565 | 186,207 | 191,850 | 197,200 | 197,200 | 197,200 | 197,200 | 197,200 |
Is that a lot? Not until you count local prices
Read this before the number. Locality pay is calculated from what private employers in the same region pay for comparable work. It is not a cost-of-living adjustment, and OPM says so in as many words. Here the distinction matters a great deal. The area ranks #5 by the number on the paycheck and only #34 once local prices are counted — a 33.94% adjustment that a high cost base takes back.
Each bar is the 2026 salary divided by that area's price level, so the bars are comparable in what they actually buy. Longer is better. Price levels are BEA Regional Price Parities for 2024, where the U.S. average is 100.
Where raises stop being raises
In this locality 5 of the 150 cells are pinned to the $197,200 ceiling. Inside that band a step increase is worth nothing at all: the formula produces a bigger number, the law cuts it back, and the payslip does not move.
This matters most when comparing job offers. Two identical grades in two localities can look like a clear win on paper while the higher-paid one has already run out of room to grow.
What is next to it
Tucson-Nogales, AZ pays $12,704 less on paper than this locality and still leaves you better off once prices are counted. There are 31 such areas above this one.
These are the localities immediately around this one once local prices are taken into account. The middle column is the price level, where 100 is the national average — lower is cheaper. Prices are shown to one decimal place; the adjusted figures are computed from the published index, which carries three.
| # | Locality | On paper | Prices | What it buys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK | $110,282 | 103.1 | $106,976 |
| 32 | Denver-Aurora, CO | $113,107 | 105.8 | $106,925 |
| 33 | Tucson-Nogales, AZ | $103,367 | 96.9 | $106,678 |
| 34 | Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA | $116,071 | 108.9 | $106,601 |
| 35 | Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC | $103,705 | 97.3 | $106,530 |
| 36 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | $104,294 | 98.1 | $106,351 |
| 37 | New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA | $119,546 | 112.6 | $106,204 |
Which cities does this cover?
OPM names this area after its principal cities: Washington, Baltimore and Arlington. They are not all in the same state, and that is the point worth taking away: the area crosses 5 state lines and pays the same percentage on both sides of every one of them. A state border is not a pay border.
The area reaches far beyond those city limits: 55 counties in all, which is among the broader definitions in the system. Plenty of towns nobody would associate with Washington are paid at this rate. What decides it is the county your duty station sits in, and the full list is below.
- Washington
- Baltimore
- Arlington
Am I actually in this locality?
Locality is decided by your duty station — the place you physically report to — not by where you live and not by where your agency is headquartered. If you report to a building in one county and live in the next one over, the building decides your pay. Telework arrangements have their own rules and can change which locality applies, so confirm with your HR office rather than assuming.
This locality covers 55 counties across 5 states (DC, MD, PA, VA, WV). Crossing a state line inside it does not change your pay; crossing out of it does.
- District of Columbia, DC
- Allegany County, MD
- Anne Arundel County, MD
- Baltimore County, MD
- Calvert County, MD
- Caroline County, MD
- Carroll County, MD
- Charles County, MD
- Dorchester County, MD
- Frederick County, MD
- Harford County, MD
- Howard County, MD
- Kent County, MD
- Montgomery County, MD
- Prince George's County, MD
- Queen Anne's County, MD
- St. Mary's County, MD
- Talbot County, MD
- Washington County, MD
- Baltimore city, MD
- Arlington County, VA
- Caroline County, VA
- Clarke County, VA
- Culpeper County, VA
- Fairfax County, VA
- Fauquier County, VA
- Frederick County, VA
- King George County, VA
- Loudoun County, VA
- Madison County, VA
- Orange County, VA
- Prince William County, VA
- Rappahannock County, VA
- Shenandoah County, VA
- Spotsylvania County, VA
- Stafford County, VA
- Warren County, VA
- Westmoreland County, VA
- Alexandria city, VA
- Fairfax city, VA
- Falls Church city, VA
- Fredericksburg city, VA
- Manassas city, VA
- Manassas Park city, VA
- Winchester city, VA
- Berkeley County, WV
- Hampshire County, WV
- Hardy County, WV
- Jefferson County, WV
- Mineral County, WV
- Morgan County, WV
- Adams County, PA
- Franklin County, PA
- Fulton County, PA
- York County, PA
How the number is built
Every General Schedule grade has ten steps. The base rate comes from the nationwide table, and the locality percentage is applied on top of it. For Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA in 2026 that percentage is 33.94%, which turns a base rate of $86,659 into $116,071 at GS-12 step 5.
No General Schedule rate may exceed Level IV of the Executive Schedule, $197,200 in 2026. Because this locality pays 33.94% over base, that ceiling is reached inside the published table: 5 of the 150 cells here are printed at the cap rather than at what the formula produces.
The percentage is applied to the base rate, the result is rounded, and only then is it checked against the ceiling — in that order. Doing it the other way round produces different numbers at the top of the schedule, which is one reason published figures sometimes disagree. Every cell here was recomputed independently and matched the OPM table to the dollar.
Work out a different grade and step
GS-12, step 5 in Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA
$116,071
Of the 57 areas with a published price level: #5 on the payslip, #34 once local prices are counted.
Starting your first federal job? A first appointment is set at step 1 of the grade unless the agency uses the superior qualifications authority (5 U.S.C. 5333; 5 CFR 531.212). The step above defaults to 5, the middle of the grade, because that is the cell this site ranks every area by.
Rates are recomputed from the published base table and this area's percentage, in the order the law sets: percentage first, rounding second, statutory ceiling last.