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

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Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT$114,893a year$4,404.00Every two weeks$55.05Per hour$55.34Overtime hour#7On paper#37After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Boston, MA GS pay scale 2026: 32.58% locality pay

In 2026 the Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT locality pay area adds 32.58% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $114,893, and the 150 rates run from $29,942 to $197,200, the statutory ceiling.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 32.58%
+ $28,234
Annual rate
$114,893

$4,404.00 every two weeks, $55.05 an hour, $55.34 an overtime hour.

#7 on paper, #37 after prices

−30Places lost, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$106,121Price level 108.3, U.S. = 100, for Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH.

Ceiling watch

4 of 150cells held to $197,200, from GS-15 step 7.

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#7 of 57
Rank after local prices
#37 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+7.39 points
Rank of that change
#8 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
69.41%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
61.34%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
69,558
Share of all jobs here
1.48%
Largest county by federal jobs
Suffolk County, MA: 13,608
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT

Every 2026 rate in Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT, 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. ▲ marks the 4 cells cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling.
Grade12345678910
GS-129,94230,94531,94132,93333,92634,50835,49336,48536,52637,451
GS-233,66634,46735,58336,52636,93438,02039,10640,19241,27742,363
GS-336,73537,96039,18540,41041,63542,86044,08645,31146,53647,761
GS-441,23642,61143,98645,36146,73648,11149,48550,86052,23553,610
GS-546,13747,67449,21250,75052,28853,82655,36456,90258,44059,978
GS-651,42953,14354,85856,57258,28660,00061,71563,42965,14366,857
GS-757,15059,05560,96062,86564,77166,67668,58170,48672,39174,297
GS-863,29165,40067,51069,61971,72873,83875,94778,05680,16682,275
GS-969,90572,23674,56776,89879,22881,55983,89086,22188,55290,882
GS-1076,98179,54782,11284,67887,24389,80892,37494,93997,505100,070
GS-1184,57987,39990,21993,03995,85998,679101,499104,319107,139109,959
GS-12101,375104,754108,134111,513114,893118,272121,651125,031128,410131,790
GS-13120,548124,567128,585132,604136,622140,641144,659148,678152,696156,715
GS-14142,452147,201151,950156,699161,448166,197170,946175,695180,444185,193
GS-15167,560173,146178,731184,317189,902195,488197,200197,200197,200197,200
Hourly rates in Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT, 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-114.3514.8315.3015.7816.2616.5317.0117.4817.5017.94
GS-216.1316.5217.0517.5017.7018.2218.7419.2619.7820.30
GS-317.6018.1918.7819.3619.9520.5421.1221.7122.3022.89
GS-419.7620.4221.0821.7422.3923.0523.7124.3725.0325.69
GS-522.1122.8423.5824.3225.0525.7926.5327.2628.0028.74
GS-624.6425.4626.2927.1127.9328.7529.5730.3931.2132.03
GS-727.3828.3029.2130.1231.0431.9532.8633.7734.6935.60
GS-830.3331.3432.3533.3634.3735.3836.3937.4038.4139.42
GS-933.5034.6135.7336.8537.9639.0840.2041.3142.4343.55
GS-1036.8938.1239.3440.5741.8043.0344.2645.4946.7247.95
GS-1140.5341.8843.2344.5845.9347.2848.6349.9951.3452.69
GS-1248.5750.1951.8153.4355.0556.6758.2959.9161.5363.15
GS-1357.7659.6961.6163.5465.4667.3969.3171.2473.1775.09
GS-1468.2670.5372.8175.0877.3679.6381.9184.1986.4688.74
GS-1580.2982.9685.6488.3290.9993.6794.4994.4994.4994.49
Biweekly rates in Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT, 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-11,148.001,186.401,224.001,262.401,300.801,322.401,360.801,398.401,400.001,435.20
GS-21,290.401,321.601,364.001,400.001,416.001,457.601,499.201,540.801,582.401,624.00
GS-31,408.001,455.201,502.401,548.801,596.001,643.201,689.601,736.801,784.001,831.20
GS-41,580.801,633.601,686.401,739.201,791.201,844.001,896.801,949.602,002.402,055.20
GS-51,768.801,827.201,886.401,945.602,004.002,063.202,122.402,180.802,240.002,299.20
GS-61,971.202,036.802,103.202,168.802,234.402,300.002,365.602,431.202,496.802,562.40
GS-72,190.402,264.002,336.802,409.602,483.202,556.002,628.802,701.602,775.202,848.00
GS-82,426.402,507.202,588.002,668.802,749.602,830.402,911.202,992.003,072.803,153.60
GS-92,680.002,768.802,858.402,948.003,036.803,126.403,216.003,304.803,394.403,484.00
GS-102,951.203,049.603,147.203,245.603,344.003,442.403,540.803,639.203,737.603,836.00
GS-113,242.403,350.403,458.403,566.403,674.403,782.403,890.403,999.204,107.204,215.20
GS-123,885.604,015.204,144.804,274.404,404.004,533.604,663.204,792.804,922.405,052.00
GS-134,620.804,775.204,928.805,083.205,236.805,391.205,544.805,699.205,853.606,007.20
GS-145,460.805,642.405,824.806,006.406,188.806,370.406,552.806,735.206,916.807,099.20
GS-156,423.206,636.806,851.207,065.607,279.207,493.607,559.207,559.207,559.207,559.20
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-BOS, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 32.58% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $114,893 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Boston, MA 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. Sources and caveats.
Locality pay, %20162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Boston, MA25.1926.7327.4828.2729.1129.1130.0931.0531.9732.5832.58
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Boston, MA

Federal Salary Council estimates for Boston, MA 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. 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 area69.4161.3432.58
2025March 2023Locality pay area75.8367.4632.58
2024March 2022Locality pay area72.6464.4231.97
2023March 2021Locality pay area66.9158.9631.05
2022March 2020Locality pay area66.9458.9930.09
2021March 2019Locality pay area69.7361.6529.11
2020March 2018Locality pay area72.0763.8829.11
2019March 2017Locality pay area72.0463.8528.27
2018March 2016Locality pay area69.6861.6027.48

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Boston, MA 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
34Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC$103,70597.3$106,530
35Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX$104,29498.1$106,351
36New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA$119,546112.6$106,204
37Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT$114,893108.3$106,121
38Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI$110,594104.8$105,506
39Sacramento-Roseville, CA-NV$112,449106.7$105,418
40Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY$102,15497.0$105,275

Federal jobs in Boston, MA

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 31 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 3,862 federal jobs in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202370,1881.50$99,318
202471,4331.52$103,326
202569,5581.48$105,803

Its 69,558 federal civilian jobs in 2025, the Postal Service included, are the fifth-largest federal workforce of the 58 areas.

No single county holds more than 19.6% of them, the third-smallest such share of the 56 areas with more than one county; the most, 13,608, are in Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

In Connecticut BLS has counted by planning region rather than county since 2024, while OPM still draws its areas by the old counties: each region is counted in the area that holds most of its towns, and 4 of the 9 regions straddle two areas; 182 of this area’s jobs are in such regions.

Counties in Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME-VT

31 counties paid at this rate

Connecticut, 1 county

  • Windham County (added 2024)

Maine, 4 counties

  • Androscoggin County
  • Cumberland County
  • Sagadahoc County
  • York County

Massachusetts, 10 counties

  • Barnstable County
  • Bristol County
  • Dukes County (added 2024)
  • Essex County
  • Middlesex County
  • Nantucket County (added 2024)
  • Norfolk County
  • Plymouth County
  • Suffolk County
  • Worcester County

New Hampshire, 9 counties

  • Belknap County
  • Carroll County (added 2024)
  • Cheshire County (added 2024)
  • Grafton County (added 2024)
  • Hillsborough County
  • Merrimack County
  • Rockingham County
  • Strafford County
  • Sullivan County (added 2024)

Rhode Island, 5 counties

  • Bristol County
  • Kent County
  • Newport County
  • Providence County
  • Washington County

Vermont, 2 counties

  • Orange County (added 2024)
  • Windsor County (added 2024)
Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions. The duty station’s county counts (how that works).

Its counties lie in six states, the most of any area.

It is the only locality pay area in Rhode Island.