INDEPENDENTREFERENCEGSGS Pay TablesWhat the federal pay tables mean 2026 edition
Effective January 2026

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Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL$102,466a year$3,928.00Every two weeks$49.10Per hour$49.35Overtime hour#48On paper#8After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Birmingham, AL GS pay scale 2026: 18.24% locality pay

In 2026 the Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL locality pay area adds 18.24% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $102,466, and the 150 rates run from $26,703 to $194,270.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 18.24%
+ $15,807
Annual rate
$102,466

$3,928.00 every two weeks, $49.10 an hour, $49.35 an overtime hour.

#48 on paper, #8 after prices

+40Places gained, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$111,809Price level 91.6, U.S. = 100, for Birmingham, AL.

Ceiling watch

ClearNo cell reaches $197,200.

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#48 of 57
Rank after local prices
#8 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+3.89 points
Rank of that change
#45 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
39.93%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
33.27%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
15,851
Share of all jobs here
2.00%
Largest county by federal jobs
Jefferson County, AL: 8,318
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL

Every 2026 rate in Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL, U.S. dollars a year, by grade and step. Click any cell, or use the arrow keys, and the bar at the top of the page moves onto it; ◀ marks GS-12 step 5. No cell here reaches the $197,200 statutory ceiling.
Grade12345678910
GS-126,70327,59828,48629,37130,25630,77631,65432,53832,57533,400
GS-230,02530,73931,73432,57532,93933,90834,87635,84436,81337,781
GS-332,76233,85434,94736,04037,13238,22539,31740,41041,50242,595
GS-436,77638,00239,22840,45541,68142,90744,13345,35946,58547,812
GS-541,14642,51843,89045,26146,63348,00449,37650,74752,11953,491
GS-645,86647,39548,92450,45351,98253,51155,04056,56858,09759,626
GS-750,96952,66854,36756,06657,76559,46461,16362,86264,56166,261
GS-856,44558,32760,20862,08963,97065,85167,73369,61471,49573,376
GS-962,34464,42366,50268,58070,65972,73874,81676,89578,97481,052
GS-1068,65570,94373,23175,51977,80780,09582,38384,67086,95889,246
GS-1175,43177,94680,46182,97685,49188,00690,52193,03695,55198,066
GS-1290,41093,42496,43899,452102,466105,480108,493111,507114,521117,535
GS-13107,510111,094114,677118,261121,845125,429129,013132,597136,181139,764
GS-14127,044131,280135,515139,750143,986148,221152,456156,692160,927165,162
GS-15149,436154,418159,399164,381169,362174,344179,325184,307189,288194,270
Hourly rates in Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL, 2026, U.S. dollars: the annual rate divided by 2,087 hours and rounded to the cent, as 5 U.S.C. 5504(b) sets. OPM prints the same figures in its hourly table for this area.
Grade12345678910
GS-112.7913.2213.6514.0714.5014.7515.1715.5915.6116.00
GS-214.3914.7315.2115.6115.7816.2516.7117.1717.6418.10
GS-315.7016.2216.7517.2717.7918.3218.8419.3619.8920.41
GS-417.6218.2118.8019.3819.9720.5621.1521.7322.3222.91
GS-519.7220.3721.0321.6922.3423.0023.6624.3224.9725.63
GS-621.9822.7123.4424.1724.9125.6426.3727.1027.8428.57
GS-724.4225.2426.0526.8627.6828.4929.3130.1230.9331.75
GS-827.0527.9528.8529.7530.6531.5532.4533.3634.2635.16
GS-929.8730.8731.8632.8633.8634.8535.8536.8437.8438.84
GS-1032.9033.9935.0936.1937.2838.3839.4740.5741.6742.76
GS-1136.1437.3538.5539.7640.9642.1743.3744.5845.7846.99
GS-1243.3244.7646.2147.6549.1050.5451.9953.4354.8756.32
GS-1351.5153.2354.9556.6758.3860.1061.8263.5365.2566.97
GS-1460.8762.9064.9366.9668.9971.0273.0575.0877.1179.14
GS-1571.6073.9976.3878.7681.1583.5485.9288.3190.7093.09
Biweekly rates in Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL, 2026, U.S. dollars: the hourly rate times 80, the hours of one pay period, as 5 U.S.C. 5504(b) sets; the annual rate divided by 26 gives a different, wrong figure.
Grade12345678910
GS-11,023.201,057.601,092.001,125.601,160.001,180.001,213.601,247.201,248.801,280.00
GS-21,151.201,178.401,216.801,248.801,262.401,300.001,336.801,373.601,411.201,448.00
GS-31,256.001,297.601,340.001,381.601,423.201,465.601,507.201,548.801,591.201,632.80
GS-41,409.601,456.801,504.001,550.401,597.601,644.801,692.001,738.401,785.601,832.80
GS-51,577.601,629.601,682.401,735.201,787.201,840.001,892.801,945.601,997.602,050.40
GS-61,758.401,816.801,875.201,933.601,992.802,051.202,109.602,168.002,227.202,285.60
GS-71,953.602,019.202,084.002,148.802,214.402,279.202,344.802,409.602,474.402,540.00
GS-82,164.002,236.002,308.002,380.002,452.002,524.002,596.002,668.802,740.802,812.80
GS-92,389.602,469.602,548.802,628.802,708.802,788.002,868.002,947.203,027.203,107.20
GS-102,632.002,719.202,807.202,895.202,982.403,070.403,157.603,245.603,333.603,420.80
GS-112,891.202,988.003,084.003,180.803,276.803,373.603,469.603,566.403,662.403,759.20
GS-123,465.603,580.803,696.803,812.003,928.004,043.204,159.204,274.404,389.604,505.60
GS-134,120.804,258.404,396.004,533.604,670.404,808.004,945.605,082.405,220.005,357.60
GS-144,869.605,032.005,194.405,356.805,519.205,681.605,844.006,006.406,168.806,331.20
GS-155,728.005,919.206,110.406,300.806,492.006,683.206,873.607,064.807,256.007,447.20
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-BH, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 18.24% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $102,466 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Birmingham, AL since 2016

0%25%50%20162026
Solid line: this area; dashed line: the Rest of U.S. rate.
Locality pay, percent, as printed in OPM’s General Schedule table for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026. Grey: the Rest of U.S. rate its counties were paid before it had a table of its own. Sources and caveats.
Locality pay, %20162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Birmingham, AL14.3515.0615.3715.7716.2616.2616.8117.4117.9118.2418.24
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

Birmingham, AL got a locality pay table of its own in 2019; the grey figures before that are the Rest of U.S. rate its counties were paid.

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Birmingham, AL

Federal Salary Council estimates for Birmingham, AL in the editions checked here, the memos for pay in 2018 to 2026: the pay gap between non-federal and General Schedule base pay, and the locality rate the 1990 law’s formula would set. Formula rate “—”: the memos print none for a Rest of U.S. research area, whose gap is from the memo’s research-area table. 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.
Edition, for pay inData as ofListed asPay gap, %Formula rate, %Rate paid that year, %
2026March 2024Locality pay area39.9333.2718.24
2025March 2023Locality pay area44.0837.2218.24
2024March 2022Locality pay area42.4235.6417.91
2023March 2021Locality pay area41.5734.8317.41
2022March 2020Locality pay area39.6232.9716.81
2021March 2019Locality pay area41.9735.2116.26
2020March 2018Locality pay area43.6236.7816.26
2019March 2017Locality pay area40.3233.6415.77
2018March 2016Rest of U.S. research area48.50—15.37

Birmingham, AL is a separate locality pay area in the memos from the edition for pay in 2019; before that, in the edition for pay in 2018, it is a Rest of U.S. research area, with a gap of 48.50%.

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Birmingham, AL by what a GS-12 step 5 buys: the 2026 salary divided by the BEA price level for 2024, where 100 is the U.S. average. How the comparison is made; all 57 ranked.
#LocalityOn paperPrice levelWhat it buys
5Huntsville-Decatur, AL-TN$105,64693.1$113,510
6Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH-PA$105,92393.9$112,776
7State of Alaska$114,702102.4$112,059
8Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL$102,46691.6$111,809
9Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI$111,894100.3$111,562
10Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA$102,26691.7$111,521
11Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA$102,45791.9$111,474

Local prices here, 91.6 against a U.S. average of 100, are the third-lowest of the 57 areas with a price index.

It ranks #48 on paper and #8 once local prices are counted, a gain of 40 places, the third-biggest of the 57 areas.

Federal jobs in Birmingham, AL

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 19 counties of this area, every federal pay system counted (the Postal Service in, the uniformed military out), as annual averages from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2023, 2024, 2025. BLS reports another 2,194 federal jobs in Alabama without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202316,1152.06$82,477
202416,3152.07$84,894
202515,8512.00$88,940

Average pay per federal job, overtime included, was $88,940 in 2025, the fifth-lowest of the 58 areas; across all 58 it was $105,058.

Counties in Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL

19 counties paid at this rate

Alabama, 19 counties

  • Bibb County
  • Blount County
  • Calhoun County
  • Chilton County
  • Clay County (added 2024)
  • Coosa County
  • Cullman County
  • Etowah County (added 2024)
  • Greene County (added 2024)
  • Hale County (added 2024)
  • Jefferson County
  • Pickens County (added 2024)
  • Shelby County
  • St. Clair County
  • Talladega County
  • Tallapoosa County
  • Tuscaloosa County (added 2024)
  • Walker County
  • Winston County (added 2024)
Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions. The duty station’s county counts (how that works).