2026 editionEffective January 202658 locality pay areasData last changed 2026-08-25
GS-3 salary in 2026, by locality
What a GS-3 earns in each of the 58 locality pay areas, and what that salary is worth once local prices are counted. The same grade and step ranges from $36,762 to $45,957 depending only on where the desk is.
Nobody is actually paid this. It is the nationwide starting point, and every duty station adds a locality percentage on top — from 17.06% to 46.34%. The spread that creates is $9,195 for identical work.
Sorted by the number on the paycheck. The last column divides that number by the local price level, so it is comparable in what it buys. Cells marked ▲ have been cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling.
All ten steps of GS-3
These are base rates before any locality adjustment. Multiply by your area's percentage — or open your locality page, where the arithmetic is already done.
| Step | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | $27,708 | $28,632 | $29,556 | $30,480 | $31,404 | $32,328 | $33,252 | $34,176 | $35,100 | $36,024 |
How long to the top of GS-3
Step increases arrive on a fixed schedule as long as performance is acceptable: one year each for steps 2 to 4, two years each for steps 5 to 7, and three years each for steps 8 to 10. Starting at step 1, reaching the top of GS-3 takes 18 years and adds $8,316 to the base rate before any locality payment.
| Reaching | Wait (years) | Years from start | Base increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step 2 | 1 | 1 | +$924 |
| Step 3 | 1 | 2 | +$924 |
| Step 4 | 1 | 3 | +$924 |
| Step 5 | 2 | 5 | +$924 |
| Step 6 | 2 | 7 | +$924 |
| Step 7 | 2 | 9 | +$924 |
| Step 8 | 3 | 12 | +$924 |
| Step 9 | 3 | 15 | +$924 |
| Step 10 | 3 | 18 | +$924 |
A promotion to a higher grade restarts that clock, which is why a promotion arriving a month before a step increase can be worth less in the first year than it appears. The waiting period also pauses during periods of non-pay status beyond a threshold, so long unpaid absences push the next increase further out.
What a GS-3 earns where you are
GS-3, step 5 in Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA
$42,063
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.
Pick the locality pay area, or open the full calculator to find it from a ZIP code.
Moving between grades
On base rates, a promotion from GS-2 is worth about $3,546 at step 5 and the step up to GS-4 adds about $3,847. A grade promotion also resets the waiting clock for your next step increase, which is why the timing of a promotion can matter as much as its size.