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

This is not a U.S. government website. GS Pay Tables is an independent reference, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management or any federal agency.Not affiliated with OPM or any federal agency.

Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN$105,663a year$4,050.40Every two weeks$50.63Per hour$50.88Overtime hour#29On paper#15After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Cincinnati, OH GS pay scale 2026: 21.93% locality pay

In 2026 the Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN locality pay area adds 21.93% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $105,663, and the 150 rates run from $27,537 to $197,200, the statutory ceiling.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 21.93%
+ $19,004
Annual rate
$105,663

$4,050.40 every two weeks, $50.63 an hour, $50.88 an overtime hour.

#29 on paper, #15 after prices

+14Places gained, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$110,793Price level 95.4, U.S. = 100, for Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN.

Ceiling watch

1 of 150GS-15 step 10 is held to $197,200.

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#29 of 57
Rank after local prices
#15 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+3.17 points
Rank of that change
#56 of 58, tied
Pay gap, latest council estimate
40.08%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
33.41%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
15,073
Share of all jobs here
1.29%
Largest county by federal jobs
Hamilton County, OH: 8,403
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN

Every 2026 rate in Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN, 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 one cell cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling.
Grade12345678910
GS-127,53728,46029,37530,28731,20131,73632,64233,55433,59234,443
GS-230,96231,69832,72533,59233,96734,96635,96436,96337,96238,960
GS-333,78434,91136,03837,16438,29139,41840,54441,67142,79743,924
GS-437,92439,18840,45341,71742,98244,24645,51046,77548,03949,304
GS-542,43043,84545,25946,67448,08849,50250,91752,33153,74655,160
GS-647,29848,87450,45152,02853,60455,18156,75758,33459,91061,487
GS-752,55954,31156,06357,81659,56861,32063,07264,82466,57668,328
GS-858,20760,14762,08764,02765,96767,90669,84671,78673,72675,666
GS-964,29066,43468,57770,72172,86475,00877,15179,29581,43883,582
GS-1070,79773,15775,51677,87580,23582,59484,95487,31389,67292,032
GS-1177,78580,37982,97285,56688,15990,75293,34695,93998,533101,126
GS-1293,23196,33999,447102,555105,663108,771111,879114,987118,095121,203
GS-13110,865114,561118,256121,952125,648129,343133,039136,735140,430144,126
GS-14131,009135,376139,744144,112148,479152,847157,214161,582165,949170,317
GS-15154,100159,237164,374169,511174,648179,785184,921190,058195,195197,200
Hourly rates in Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN, 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-113.1913.6414.0814.5114.9515.2115.6416.0816.1016.50
GS-214.8415.1915.6816.1016.2816.7517.2317.7118.1918.67
GS-316.1916.7317.2717.8118.3518.8919.4319.9720.5121.05
GS-418.1718.7819.3819.9920.6021.2021.8122.4123.0223.62
GS-520.3321.0121.6922.3623.0423.7224.4025.0725.7526.43
GS-622.6623.4224.1724.9325.6826.4427.2027.9528.7129.46
GS-725.1826.0226.8627.7028.5429.3830.2231.0631.9032.74
GS-827.8928.8229.7530.6831.6132.5433.4734.4035.3336.26
GS-930.8031.8332.8633.8934.9135.9436.9737.9939.0240.05
GS-1033.9235.0536.1837.3138.4539.5840.7141.8442.9744.10
GS-1137.2738.5139.7641.0042.2443.4844.7345.9747.2148.46
GS-1244.6746.1647.6549.1450.6352.1253.6155.1056.5958.08
GS-1353.1254.8956.6658.4360.2161.9863.7565.5267.2969.06
GS-1462.7764.8766.9669.0571.1473.2475.3377.4279.5281.61
GS-1573.8476.3078.7681.2283.6886.1588.6191.0793.5394.49
Biweekly rates in Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN, 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-11,055.201,091.201,126.401,160.801,196.001,216.801,251.201,286.401,288.001,320.00
GS-21,187.201,215.201,254.401,288.001,302.401,340.001,378.401,416.801,455.201,493.60
GS-31,295.201,338.401,381.601,424.801,468.001,511.201,554.401,597.601,640.801,684.00
GS-41,453.601,502.401,550.401,599.201,648.001,696.001,744.801,792.801,841.601,889.60
GS-51,626.401,680.801,735.201,788.801,843.201,897.601,952.002,005.602,060.002,114.40
GS-61,812.801,873.601,933.601,994.402,054.402,115.202,176.002,236.002,296.802,356.80
GS-72,014.402,081.602,148.802,216.002,283.202,350.402,417.602,484.802,552.002,619.20
GS-82,231.202,305.602,380.002,454.402,528.802,603.202,677.602,752.002,826.402,900.80
GS-92,464.002,546.402,628.802,711.202,792.802,875.202,957.603,039.203,121.603,204.00
GS-102,713.602,804.002,894.402,984.803,076.003,166.403,256.803,347.203,437.603,528.00
GS-112,981.603,080.803,180.803,280.003,379.203,478.403,578.403,677.603,776.803,876.80
GS-123,573.603,692.803,812.003,931.204,050.404,169.604,288.804,408.004,527.204,646.40
GS-134,249.604,391.204,532.804,674.404,816.804,958.405,100.005,241.605,383.205,524.80
GS-145,021.605,189.605,356.805,524.005,691.205,859.206,026.406,193.606,361.606,528.80
GS-155,907.206,104.006,300.806,497.606,694.406,892.007,088.807,285.607,482.407,559.20
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-CIN, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 21.93% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $105,663 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Cincinnati, OH 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
Cincinnati, OH18.7619.5219.8720.2120.5520.5520.9421.3521.6921.9321.93
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

From 2016 to 2026 its locality payment rose 3.17 percentage points, from 18.76% to 21.93%, the second-smallest rise of the 58 areas, shared with Reno, NV.

Among the 46 areas with a table of their own since 2016, it has slipped from 22nd to 29th by locality percentage, the second-biggest slide of them.

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Cincinnati, OH

Federal Salary Council estimates for Cincinnati, OH 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 area40.0833.4121.93
2025March 2023Locality pay area42.5935.8021.93
2024March 2022Locality pay area40.1633.4921.69
2023March 2021Locality pay area39.9133.2521.35
2022March 2020Locality pay area39.2432.6120.94
2021March 2019Locality pay area41.5334.7920.55
2020March 2018Locality pay area41.5034.7620.55
2019March 2017Locality pay area42.2035.4320.21
2018March 2016Locality pay area42.4835.7019.87

Across the nine editions checked here, the estimate for Cincinnati, OH has run from 39.24% (for pay in 2022) to 42.59% (for pay in 2025), the narrowest swing of the 56 areas with a gap in all of them; just above it is Los Angeles, CA (3.62 points).

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Cincinnati, OH 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
12Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS$103,09892.5$111,406
13Hartford-East Hartford, CT-MA$114,459102.7$111,400
14Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH$105,85495.5$110,878
15Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN$105,66395.4$110,793
16Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV$104,88394.7$110,787
17Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY$106,07995.8$110,679
18Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX$101,93792.7$109,999

Federal jobs in Cincinnati, OH

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 27 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 7,628 federal jobs in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202315,2171.31$86,912
202415,7021.35$89,160
202515,0731.29$93,618

Counties in Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN

27 counties paid at this rate

Indiana, 6 counties

  • Dearborn County
  • Franklin County
  • Ohio County
  • Ripley County (added 2024)
  • Switzerland County (added 2024)
  • Union County

Kentucky, 13 counties

  • Boone County
  • Bracken County
  • Campbell County
  • Carroll County (added 2024)
  • Fleming County (added 2024)
  • Gallatin County
  • Grant County
  • Kenton County
  • Lewis County (added 2024)
  • Mason County
  • Owen County (added 2024)
  • Pendleton County
  • Robertson County (added 2024)

Ohio, 8 counties

  • Adams County (added 2024)
  • Brown County
  • Butler County
  • Clermont County
  • Clinton County
  • Hamilton County
  • Highland County (added 2024)
  • Warren 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 Chicago, IL and Pittsburgh, PA.