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

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Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC$103,705a year$3,975.20Every two weeks$49.69Per hour$49.94Overtime hour#38On paper#34After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Charlotte, NC GS pay scale 2026: 19.67% locality pay

In 2026 the Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC locality pay area adds 19.67% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $103,705, and the 150 rates run from $27,026 to $196,619.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 19.67%
+ $17,046
Annual rate
$103,705

$3,975.20 every two weeks, $49.69 an hour, $49.94 an overtime hour.

#38 on paper, #34 after prices

+4Places gained, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$106,530Price level 97.3, U.S. = 100, for Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC.

Ceiling watch

ClearNo cell reaches $197,200.

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#38 of 57
Rank after local prices
#34 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+5.23 points
Rank of that change
#27 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
47.82%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
40.78%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
12,788
Share of all jobs here
0.81%
Largest county by federal jobs
Mecklenburg County, NC: 5,870
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC

Every 2026 rate in Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC, 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-127,02627,93228,83129,72630,62231,14832,03732,93232,96933,804
GS-230,38831,11132,11832,96933,33834,31835,29836,27837,25838,238
GS-333,15834,26435,37036,47537,58138,68739,79340,89842,00443,110
GS-437,22138,46239,70340,94442,18543,42644,66745,90847,14948,390
GS-541,64443,03244,42045,80847,19748,58549,97351,36152,74954,138
GS-646,42147,96949,51651,06352,61154,15855,70557,25358,80060,347
GS-751,58553,30555,02456,74458,46460,18361,90363,62365,34267,062
GS-857,12859,03260,93662,84064,74466,64868,55270,45672,36074,264
GS-963,09865,20267,30669,41071,51473,61775,72177,82579,92982,033
GS-1069,48571,80174,11676,43278,74881,06383,37985,69488,01090,326
GS-1176,34378,88981,43483,98086,52589,07091,61694,16196,70799,252
GS-1291,50394,55497,604100,654103,705106,755109,806112,856115,906118,957
GS-13108,810112,437116,064119,692123,319126,946130,573134,200137,828141,455
GS-14128,581132,867137,154141,440145,727150,014154,300158,587162,873167,160
GS-15151,244156,285161,327166,369171,411176,452181,494186,536191,577196,619
Hourly rates in Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC, 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-112.9513.3813.8114.2414.6714.9215.3515.7815.8016.20
GS-214.5614.9115.3915.8015.9716.4416.9117.3817.8518.32
GS-315.8916.4216.9517.4818.0118.5419.0719.6020.1320.66
GS-417.8318.4319.0219.6220.2120.8121.4022.0022.5923.19
GS-519.9520.6221.2821.9522.6123.2823.9424.6125.2825.94
GS-622.2422.9823.7324.4725.2125.9526.6927.4328.1728.92
GS-724.7225.5426.3727.1928.0128.8429.6630.4931.3132.13
GS-827.3728.2929.2030.1131.0231.9332.8533.7634.6735.58
GS-930.2331.2432.2533.2634.2735.2736.2837.2938.3039.31
GS-1033.2934.4035.5136.6237.7338.8439.9541.0642.1743.28
GS-1136.5837.8039.0240.2441.4642.6843.9045.1246.3447.56
GS-1243.8445.3146.7748.2349.6951.1552.6154.0855.5457.00
GS-1352.1453.8755.6157.3559.0960.8362.5664.3066.0467.78
GS-1461.6163.6665.7267.7769.8371.8873.9375.9978.0480.10
GS-1572.4774.8977.3079.7282.1384.5586.9689.3891.8094.21
Biweekly rates in Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC, 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-11,036.001,070.401,104.801,139.201,173.601,193.601,228.001,262.401,264.001,296.00
GS-21,164.801,192.801,231.201,264.001,277.601,315.201,352.801,390.401,428.001,465.60
GS-31,271.201,313.601,356.001,398.401,440.801,483.201,525.601,568.001,610.401,652.80
GS-41,426.401,474.401,521.601,569.601,616.801,664.801,712.001,760.001,807.201,855.20
GS-51,596.001,649.601,702.401,756.001,808.801,862.401,915.201,968.802,022.402,075.20
GS-61,779.201,838.401,898.401,957.602,016.802,076.002,135.202,194.402,253.602,313.60
GS-71,977.602,043.202,109.602,175.202,240.802,307.202,372.802,439.202,504.802,570.40
GS-82,189.602,263.202,336.002,408.802,481.602,554.402,628.002,700.802,773.602,846.40
GS-92,418.402,499.202,580.002,660.802,741.602,821.602,902.402,983.203,064.003,144.80
GS-102,663.202,752.002,840.802,929.603,018.403,107.203,196.003,284.803,373.603,462.40
GS-112,926.403,024.003,121.603,219.203,316.803,414.403,512.003,609.603,707.203,804.80
GS-123,507.203,624.803,741.603,858.403,975.204,092.004,208.804,326.404,443.204,560.00
GS-134,171.204,309.604,448.804,588.004,727.204,866.405,004.805,144.005,283.205,422.40
GS-144,928.805,092.805,257.605,421.605,586.405,750.405,914.406,079.206,243.206,408.00
GS-155,797.605,991.206,184.006,377.606,570.406,764.006,956.807,150.407,344.007,536.80
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-CT, matched cell by cell.

No cell here reaches the $197,200 ceiling, but GS-15 step 10, at $196,619, is $581 short of it, the closest of the 21 areas whose rates all stay below it.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 19.67% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $103,705 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Charlotte, NC 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
Charlotte, NC14.4415.6516.2116.7917.4417.4418.0618.6319.2619.6719.67
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

Charlotte, NC has had a locality pay table of its own only since 2016; before that its counties were paid the Rest of U.S. rate.

Among the 46 areas with a table of their own since 2016, it has climbed from 43rd to 38th by locality percentage, the second-biggest climb of them, shared with Albany, NY and Richmond, VA.

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Charlotte, NC

Federal Salary Council estimates for Charlotte, NC 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 area47.8240.7819.67
2025March 2023Locality pay area50.2843.1219.67
2024March 2022Locality pay area48.5841.5019.26
2023March 2021Locality pay area41.9135.1518.63
2022March 2020Locality pay area43.0836.2718.06
2021March 2019Locality pay area47.6240.5917.44
2020March 2018Locality pay area51.6044.3817.44
2019March 2017Locality pay area50.1342.9816.79
2018March 2016Locality pay area49.1142.0116.21

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Charlotte, NC 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
31Denver-Aurora, CO$113,107105.8$106,925
32Tucson-Nogales, AZ$103,36796.9$106,678
33Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA$116,071108.9$106,601
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

Federal jobs in Charlotte, NC

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 18 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 9,240 federal jobs in North Carolina and South Carolina without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202311,8320.76$88,404
202412,6460.81$91,387
202512,7880.81$94,224

Federal jobs of every pay system are 0.81% of all jobs here, the lowest share of the 58 areas; just above it is Rochester, NY (0.90%).

Federal jobs here grew from 2024 to 2025, 142 more than in 2024, up 1.12%, in one of only three areas where they did not fall.

Counties in Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC

18 counties paid at this rate

North Carolina, 14 counties

  • Alexander County (added 2024)
  • Anson County (added 2024)
  • Burke County (added 2024)
  • Cabarrus County
  • Caldwell County (added 2024)
  • Catawba County (added 2024)
  • Cleveland County
  • Gaston County
  • Iredell County
  • Lincoln County
  • Mecklenburg County
  • Rowan County
  • Stanly County
  • Union County

South Carolina, 4 counties

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