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

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Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI$113,402a year$4,347.20Every two weeks$54.34Per hour$54.62Overtime hour#11On paper#20After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Chicago, IL GS pay scale 2026: 30.86% locality pay

In 2026 the Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI locality pay area adds 30.86% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $113,402, and the 150 rates run from $29,553 to $197,200, the statutory ceiling.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 30.86%
+ $26,743
Annual rate
$113,402

$4,347.20 every two weeks, $54.34 an hour, $54.62 an overtime hour.

#11 on paper, #20 after prices

−9Places lost, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$109,467Price level 103.6, U.S. = 100, for Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN.

Ceiling watch

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

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#11 of 57
Rank after local prices
#20 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+5.42 points
Rank of that change
#24 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
57.95%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
50.43%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
57,438
Share of all jobs here
1.18%
Largest county by federal jobs
Cook County, IL: 40,100
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI

Every 2026 rate in Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI, 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-129,55330,54431,52732,50633,48634,06035,03336,01136,05236,965
GS-233,22934,02035,12236,05236,45537,52738,59839,67040,74241,814
GS-336,25937,46838,67739,88641,09542,30443,51444,72345,93247,141
GS-440,70142,05843,41544,77246,12947,48648,84350,20151,55852,915
GS-545,53847,05648,57450,09251,61053,12854,64656,16457,68259,200
GS-650,76252,45454,14655,83857,53059,22260,91462,60664,29865,990
GS-756,40958,28960,16962,05063,93065,81167,69169,57271,45273,333
GS-862,47064,55266,63468,71670,79872,88074,96277,04479,12681,208
GS-968,99971,29973,60075,90078,20180,50182,80285,10287,40389,703
GS-1075,98378,51581,04783,57986,11188,64391,17593,70896,24098,772
GS-1183,48286,26689,04991,83294,61697,399100,182102,966105,749108,533
GS-12100,059103,395106,731110,066113,402116,738120,073123,409126,744130,080
GS-13118,984122,951126,917130,884134,850138,816142,783146,749150,715154,682
GS-14140,604145,291149,979154,666159,353164,041168,728173,416178,103182,790
GS-15165,386170,899176,412181,925187,439192,952197,200197,200197,200197,200
Hourly rates in Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI, 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-114.1614.6415.1115.5816.0516.3216.7917.2517.2717.71
GS-215.9216.3016.8317.2717.4717.9818.4919.0119.5220.04
GS-317.3717.9518.5319.1119.6920.2720.8521.4322.0122.59
GS-419.5020.1520.8021.4522.1022.7523.4024.0524.7025.35
GS-521.8222.5523.2724.0024.7325.4626.1826.9127.6428.37
GS-624.3225.1325.9426.7627.5728.3829.1930.0030.8131.62
GS-727.0327.9328.8329.7330.6331.5332.4333.3434.2435.14
GS-829.9330.9331.9332.9333.9234.9235.9236.9237.9138.91
GS-933.0634.1635.2736.3737.4738.5739.6840.7841.8842.98
GS-1036.4137.6238.8340.0541.2642.4743.6944.9046.1147.33
GS-1140.0041.3342.6744.0045.3446.6748.0049.3450.6752.00
GS-1247.9449.5451.1452.7454.3455.9457.5359.1360.7362.33
GS-1357.0158.9160.8162.7164.6166.5168.4270.3272.2274.12
GS-1467.3769.6271.8674.1176.3678.6080.8583.0985.3487.59
GS-1579.2581.8984.5387.1789.8192.4594.4994.4994.4994.49
Biweekly rates in Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI, 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-11,132.801,171.201,208.801,246.401,284.001,305.601,343.201,380.001,381.601,416.80
GS-21,273.601,304.001,346.401,381.601,397.601,438.401,479.201,520.801,561.601,603.20
GS-31,389.601,436.001,482.401,528.801,575.201,621.601,668.001,714.401,760.801,807.20
GS-41,560.001,612.001,664.001,716.001,768.001,820.001,872.001,924.001,976.002,028.00
GS-51,745.601,804.001,861.601,920.001,978.402,036.802,094.402,152.802,211.202,269.60
GS-61,945.602,010.402,075.202,140.802,205.602,270.402,335.202,400.002,464.802,529.60
GS-72,162.402,234.402,306.402,378.402,450.402,522.402,594.402,667.202,739.202,811.20
GS-82,394.402,474.402,554.402,634.402,713.602,793.602,873.602,953.603,032.803,112.80
GS-92,644.802,732.802,821.602,909.602,997.603,085.603,174.403,262.403,350.403,438.40
GS-102,912.803,009.603,106.403,204.003,300.803,397.603,495.203,592.003,688.803,786.40
GS-113,200.003,306.403,413.603,520.003,627.203,733.603,840.003,947.204,053.604,160.00
GS-123,835.203,963.204,091.204,219.204,347.204,475.204,602.404,730.404,858.404,986.40
GS-134,560.804,712.804,864.805,016.805,168.805,320.805,473.605,625.605,777.605,929.60
GS-145,389.605,569.605,748.805,928.806,108.806,288.006,468.006,647.206,827.207,007.20
GS-156,340.006,551.206,762.406,973.607,184.807,396.007,559.207,559.207,559.207,559.20
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-CHI, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 30.86% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $113,402 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Chicago, IL 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
Chicago, IL25.4426.8527.4728.0528.5928.5929.1829.7930.4130.8630.86
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

Among the 46 areas with a table of their own since 2016, it has slipped from 6th to 11th by locality percentage, the third-biggest slide of them, shared with Cleveland, OH.

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Chicago, IL

Federal Salary Council estimates for Chicago, IL 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 area57.9550.4330.86
2025March 2023Locality pay area64.2756.4530.86
2024March 2022Locality pay area59.9952.3730.41
2023March 2021Locality pay area54.7547.3829.79
2022March 2020Locality pay area54.0446.7029.18
2021March 2019Locality pay area54.5647.2028.59
2020March 2018Locality pay area58.6651.1028.59
2019March 2017Locality pay area61.9754.2628.05
2018March 2016Locality pay area63.8056.0027.47

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Chicago, IL 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
17Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY$106,07995.8$110,679
18Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX$101,93792.7$109,999
19San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA$126,817115.6$109,691
20Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI$113,402103.6$109,467
21Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI$106,08896.9$109,440
22St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL$104,01795.1$109,390
23Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD$111,781102.6$108,997

Federal jobs in Chicago, IL

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 25 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 4,863 federal jobs in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202357,7061.20$96,625
202459,2761.22$100,568
202557,4381.18$104,542

Counties in Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI

25 counties paid at this rate

Illinois, 18 counties

  • Boone County (added 2024)
  • Bureau County
  • Cook County
  • DeKalb County
  • DuPage County
  • Grundy County
  • Iroquois County (added 2024)
  • Kane County
  • Kankakee County
  • Kendall County
  • LaSalle County
  • Lake County
  • McHenry County
  • Ogle County (added 2024)
  • Putnam County
  • Stephenson County (added 2024)
  • Will County
  • Winnebago County (added 2024)

Indiana, 6 counties

  • Jasper County
  • LaPorte County
  • Lake County
  • Newton County
  • Porter County
  • Starke County (added 2024)

Wisconsin, 1 county

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

Its counties lie in three states, the fifth-most of any area, as many as Cincinnati, OH and Pittsburgh, PA.