GS-5 Pay Scale & Salary 2026: $34,799 Base, Up to $66,203

GS-5 base pay, step by step

Base rates before locality pay, from the OPM 2026 General Schedule table, a year and an hour: the hourly rate is the annual rate divided by 2,087 hours, rounded to the cent (5 U.S.C. 5504(b)). The waits between steps are set by 5 CFR 531.405; the step increase calculator works out the date of your next one.
Step	Base rate	Hourly	Increase	Wait (weeks)	Total (years)
Step 1	$34,799	$16.67	—	—	0
Step 2	$35,959	$17.23	+$1,160	52	1
Step 3	$37,119	$17.79	+$1,160	52	2
Step 4	$38,279	$18.34	+$1,160	52	3
Step 5	$39,439	$18.90	+$1,160	104	5
Step 6	$40,599	$19.45	+$1,160	104	7
Step 7	$41,759	$20.01	+$1,160	104	9
Step 8	$42,919	$20.56	+$1,160	156	12
Step 9	$44,079	$21.12	+$1,160	156	15
Step 10	$45,239	$21.68	+$1,160	156	18

These base rates stay the same under the 2027 proposal, $34,799 to $45,239 (2027 pay raise).

Who is on GS-5

GS pay plan only: law enforcement officers on the GL plan are counted separately. Source: OPM Federal Workforce Data, employment snapshot for May 2026, the latest complete one (OPM notes that some Department of Defense (Department of War) components did not submit June and July 2026 data); OPM withholds the pay of 550,140 of the 1,279,389 GS records, every Department of Defense one among them, so pay figures cover only the rest; the national median wage, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, all occupations; what it can and cannot show.
Employees on GS-5	53,653 employees, 4.2% of the 1,279,389 on the General Schedule (95 GS records carry no grade)
At GS-5 or higher	98.6% of them
Median full-time pay, locality included	$50,988, the median of the 32,777 full-time GS-5 employees whose pay OPM publishes, 70.6% of the grade’s 46,434 full-time employees
Median wage, all U.S. occupations	$50,980 a year, $24.51 an hour
Supervisors or managers	0%
At step 10	12%
Exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act	3%
Law enforcement officers	GL-5 step 1 is $42,919, 23.3% more than GS-5 step 1, with the same locality percentage on top (the GL pay scale)

At GS-5 the largest occupations are Nursing Assistant (0621), Miscellaneous Clerk and Assistant (0303) and Medical Support Assistance (0679), and the Department of Veterans Affairs employs the most of them, 23,141.

Every step of GS-5 is paid less an hour than GS-10 step 1, so an overtime hour is paid at time and a half at every step of the grade, in all 58 areas.

Is GS-5 a high grade?

It is low on the schedule, with 98.6% of the 1,279,389 General Schedule employees in May 2026 at GS-5 or higher, but the median full-time pay OPM publishes for it, $50,988, is the national median wage for all occupations, $50,980, to within $8.

What does a GS-5 make an hour?

$16.67 to $21.68 an hour in base pay, from step 1 to step 10, and in Rest of U.S. it passes the national median of $24.51 an hour at step 9, $24.72.

What military rank is GS-5 equivalent to?

Enlisted grades E-5 and E-6, non-commissioned officers in category II, are the ranks DoD treats as equivalent to GS-5 on Geneva Conventions identification cards.

Source: DoD Instruction 1000.01 (Change 2, June 4, 2018), Table 2; that the equivalence gives civilians no rank or authority over military personnel is from its Enclosure 2, paragraph 4.b (what the instruction is for). This is not a pay equivalence: the grades in one row are not paid the same.
Military grade	E-5 and E-6
Geneva Conventions category	II, non-commissioned officer
Other GS grades in the same row	none

Who qualifies at GS-5

Under OPM’s qualification standard for administrative and management positions, GS-5 takes a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree; or, instead of education, 3 years of general experience, 1 year of which was equivalent to at least GS-4. Equivalent combinations of education and experience also qualify.

Each occupation has its own standard, and the qualifications section of a vacancy announcement is what decides. Source: OPM, General Schedule Qualification Standards, administrative and management positions.

GS-5 step 5 in every locality pay area

GS-5 step 5 in all 58 areas: $46,167 in Rest of U.S. to $57,715 in San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA, **$11,548** apart for identical work. Sorted by the number on the paycheck; the last column divides it by the local price level, so it is comparable in what it buys. ▲ marks a cell cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling. Best off in practice: Laredo, TX, where $47,954 buys what $55,147 buys at national average prices. Rest of U.S. has no price index of its own, so its last two columns are empty rather than guessed. Sources: OPM 2026 General Schedule tables; BEA Regional Price Parities 2024.
#	Locality	Salary	Price level	What it buys
1	San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA	$57,715	115.6	$49,921
2	New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA	$54,406	112.6	$48,334
3	Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA	$53,822	113.6	$47,393
4	Houston-The Woodlands, TX	$53,243	98.6	$53,983
5	Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA	$52,825	108.9	$48,515
6	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$52,738	111.9	$47,135
7	Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT	$52,288	108.3	$48,296
8	State of Alaska	$52,201	102.4	$50,998
9	Hartford-East Hartford, CT-MA	$52,091	102.7	$50,699
10	Seattle-Tacoma, WA	$51,890	111.1	$46,692
11	Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI	$51,610	103.6	$49,819
12	Denver-Aurora, CO	$51,476	105.8	$48,662
13	Sacramento-Roseville, CA-NV	$51,176	106.7	$47,976
14	Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI	$50,924	100.3	$50,773
15	Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$50,872	102.6	$49,605
16	Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI	$50,332	104.8	$48,017
17	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK	$50,190	103.1	$48,686
18	Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA	$49,744	105.4	$47,186
19	Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, FL	$49,169	114.2	$43,072
20	Atlanta--Athens-Clarke County--Sandy Springs, GA-AL	$48,822	100.1	$48,794
21	Phoenix-Mesa, AZ	$48,293	103.3	$46,743
22	Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI	$48,281	96.9	$49,807
23	Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY	$48,277	95.8	$50,370
24	Richmond, VA	$48,226	97.9	$49,282
25	Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC	$48,210	98.2	$49,115
26	Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH-PA	$48,206	93.9	$51,325
27	State of Hawaii	$48,198	110.0	$43,836
28	Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH	$48,175	95.5	$50,461
29	Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN	$48,088	95.4	$50,423
30	Huntsville-Decatur, AL-TN	$48,080	93.1	$51,659
31	Laredo, TX	$47,954	87.0	$55,147
32	Dayton-Springfield-Kettering, OH	$47,887	92.7	$51,661
33	Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV	$47,733	94.7	$50,420
34	Albany-Schenectady, NY-MA	$47,630	99.6	$47,838
35	Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX	$47,465	98.1	$48,401
36	Colorado Springs, CO	$47,386	100.7	$47,053
37	St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL	$47,339	95.1	$49,784
38	Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC	$47,197	97.3	$48,483
39	Las Vegas-Henderson, NV-AZ	$47,157	100.2	$47,056
40	Burlington-South Burlington-Barre, VT	$47,110	100.9	$46,667
41	Harrisburg-Lebanon, PA	$47,102	98.7	$47,747
42	Tucson-Nogales, AZ	$47,043	96.9	$48,550
43	Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS	$46,921	92.5	$50,702
44	Davenport-Moline, IA-IL	$46,905	89.1	$52,656
45	Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC	$46,854	97.9	$47,839
46	San Antonio-New Braunfels-Pearsall, TX	$46,846	94.7	$49,459
47	Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Las Vegas, NM	$46,668	95.5	$48,843
48	Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL	$46,633	91.6	$50,885
49	Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA	$46,629	91.9	$50,733
50	Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie, IN	$46,597	95.7	$48,693
51	Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA	$46,542	91.7	$50,754
52	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$46,510	100.0	$46,508
53	Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY	$46,491	97.0	$47,912
54	Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'Alene, WA-ID	$46,408	100.3	$46,248
55	Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA	$46,400	102.2	$45,420
56	Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX	$46,392	92.7	$50,061
57	Reno-Fernley, NV	$46,349	101.0	$45,884
58	Rest of U.S.	$46,167	—	—

What a GS-5 earns where you are

GS-5, step 5 in Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PAWashington, DC

$52,825

Locality pay area

Grade

Step

Promotion from GS-5 to GS-6

The step a GS-5 lands on at GS-6 by the two-step rule, and the base increase; a promotion also restarts the wait for the next step, counted at the new step. The same row on the promotion calculator works for any area.
At GS-5	Lands on GS-6	Base increase
Step 1	Step 1	+$3,992
Step 2	Step 1	+$2,832
Step 3	Step 2	+$2,965
Step 4	Step 3	+$3,098
Step 5	Step 4	+$3,231
Step 6	Step 5	+$3,364
Step 7	Step 6	+$3,497
Step 8	Step 6	+$2,337
Step 9	Step 7	+$2,470
Step 10	Step 8	+$2,603

A promotion to GS-6 needs 52 weeks at GS-5 in a line of work that moves one grade at a time (5 CFR 300.604). Where the work moves two grades at a time, as GS-5, 7, 9 and 11 professional ladders do, 52 weeks at GS-5 opens GS-7 directly: by the same rule a GS-5 step 5 lands on GS-7 step 1, $3,667 more in base pay.