The GS pay system determines the salary of more than 1.5 million federal civilian employees. Your pay is the product of two variables: a nationally uniform base pay tied to your grade and step, and a locality pay adjustment that reflects the labor market where you work. Neither number alone tells you what you actually earn — you need both, multiplied together, and then checked against the EX-IV pay cap.
Total adjusted pay = Base Pay × (1 + Locality Rate). Locality is determined by your official duty station — not your home address. Remote employees with no named duty station receive Rest of U.S. (17.06%).
Section I Your 2025 GS Pay Calculator
Select your GS grade, step, and locality pay area. Results update on every change and include your full pay breakdown, next step projection, and a chart of all 10 steps at your locality.
Calculate My 2025 Federal Pay
Section II Step Progression Chart
The chart below shows your locality-adjusted pay at every step for your selected grade and locality. Your current step is highlighted in gold. Change any selector above and the chart updates automatically.
Each bar is your locality-adjusted annual pay at that step. The gold bar is your current step. Any bar hitting the $195,200 ceiling is capped there by law — meaning additional step increases at that grade in that locality produce no additional pay.
Section III Within-Grade Step Increase Timeline
Step increases are automatic — no competition, no supervisor discretion — as long as your performance is rated Fully Successful or higher. Waiting periods are set by law under 5 U.S.C. 5335.
52-week waiting period — one year each
The fastest phase. A new hire at Step 1 reaches Step 4 in three years with acceptable performance and no action required beyond staying employed.
104-week waiting period — two years each
Mid-career pace slows to a two-year cycle. Six years to traverse steps 4 through 7. Total elapsed time from Step 1 to Step 7 is nine years under standard rules.
156-week waiting period — three years each
Nine additional years from Step 7 to Step 10. The full journey from Step 1 to Step 10 within a single grade takes 18 years minimum — which is why promotions matter more than step increases at senior levels.
One accelerated step — maximum one per 52-week period
Outstanding performers may receive an additional step increase outside the normal waiting period. QSIs are agency-discretionary, require a formal Outstanding performance rating, and cannot be received more than once per year.
| Step Range | Wait per Step | Cumulative Time from Step 1 | Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steps 1 – 4 | 1 year (52 weeks) | 3 years total | Early career |
| Steps 4 – 7 | 2 years (104 weeks) | 9 years total | Mid career |
| Steps 7 – 10 | 3 years (156 weeks) | 18 years total | Senior |
Section IV Key Pay Rules
These rules govern how GS pay is set, negotiated, and capped. Most federal employees do not know them — which means most leave money on the table at hiring and promotion.
The mechanics that matter most
- Two-step promotion rule: When promoted, your new pay must be at least two steps above your current rate at the lower grade. Guaranteed under 5 CFR 531.214 — your agency cannot pay you less than this minimum.
- Superior Qualifications (SQSN): Agencies can hire you above Step 1 if you have exceptional qualifications or the agency has a critical staffing need. You must request it explicitly — HR will rarely volunteer the option. Most common at GS-12 and above in technical fields.
- Locality = duty station, not residence: Your locality rate is locked to your official duty station, not your home. A fully remote employee whose position designates a high-locality office as the duty station earns that locality rate, even if they never physically report there.
- EX-IV cap ($195,200 in 2025): No GS employee may earn more than this regardless of grade, step, or locality. In San Francisco, the cap bites GS-15 employees at Steps 5 and above.
- Locality pay counts toward your FERS high-3: Every dollar of locality pay in your final three years increases your lifetime pension annuity. Location choice is one of the highest-leverage retirement decisions a federal employee can make.
In San Francisco (46.34%), a GS-15 Step 10 calculates to $237,912 — but is paid only $195,200 by law. Steps 5 through 10 all produce the same paycheck. Senior GS-15 employees in top-tier localities should negotiate SES appointment or SL/ST conversion rather than waiting for step increases that generate no additional pay.
Section V Frequently Asked Questions
Base pay is the nationwide uniform salary for each grade and step — identical for every federal employee at that combination regardless of location. Locality pay is an additional percentage on top that varies by your official duty station. Both are "basic pay" under 5 U.S.C. — meaning both count for FERS pension calculations, TSP matching, and overtime rates.
Yes. Locality pay is included in your basic pay for FERS purposes. Your high-3 average salary — which OPM multiplies by years of service and the 1% or 1.1% accrual factor to produce your annuity — includes full locality pay. Working in a high-locality area in the three years before retirement meaningfully increases your lifetime pension income. This is one of the most underappreciated retirement planning levers available to federal employees.
Your locality rate follows your official duty station as designated in your position description and HR records — not where you physically sit. If your duty station is listed as a specific metro area, you receive that locality even on days you work from home. If the duty station is listed as "anywhere in the U.S." or falls outside any named locality boundary, you receive Rest of U.S. (17.06%). Confirm your official designation with HR — it is worth correcting if you believe it is wrong.
OPM uses 2,087 compensable hours as the standard annual work hours for a full-time federal employee. This figure accounts for the average number of workdays across the 10-year pay period cycle, in which some years have more compensable hours than others. It is the official divisor used to convert annual GS pay into an hourly rate on your pay stub.
The 2026 GS pay tables take effect at the start of the first full pay period in January 2026, typically the pay period beginning in mid-January. OPM publishes the official tables after the President signs the annual pay executive order, which usually occurs in late December. Always verify the effective date on OPM.gov before making any financial decisions based on anticipated 2026 pay figures.