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

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Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH$105,854a year$4,057.60Every two weeks$50.72Per hour$50.97Overtime hour#28On paper#14After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Columbus, OH GS pay scale 2026: 22.15% locality pay

In 2026 the Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH locality pay area adds 22.15% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $105,854, and the 150 rates run from $27,586 to $197,200, the statutory ceiling.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 22.15%
+ $19,195
Annual rate
$105,854

$4,057.60 every two weeks, $50.72 an hour, $50.97 an overtime hour.

#28 on paper, #14 after prices

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

Buys at U.S. prices

$110,878Price level 95.5, U.S. = 100, for Columbus, OH.

Ceiling watch

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

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#28 of 57
Rank after local prices
#14 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+4.74 points
Rank of that change
#34 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
45.09%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
38.18%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
17,369
Share of all jobs here
1.33%
Largest county by federal jobs
Franklin County, OH: 13,304
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH

Every 2026 rate in Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH, 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-127,58628,51129,42830,34231,25731,79332,70133,61433,65234,505
GS-231,01831,75532,78433,65234,02935,02936,02937,03038,03039,031
GS-333,84534,97436,10337,23138,36039,48940,61741,74642,87544,003
GS-437,99239,25940,52641,79243,05944,32645,59246,85948,12649,393
GS-542,50743,92445,34146,75848,17549,59251,00952,42653,84255,259
GS-647,38348,96350,54252,12153,70155,28056,86058,43960,01861,598
GS-752,65454,40956,16557,92059,67561,43063,18664,94166,69668,452
GS-858,31260,25562,19964,14266,08668,02969,97271,91673,85975,803
GS-964,40666,55368,70170,84872,99675,14377,29079,43881,58583,733
GS-1070,92573,28975,65278,01680,38082,74385,10787,47089,83492,198
GS-1177,92680,52483,12285,72088,31890,91693,51496,11398,711101,309
GS-1293,40096,51399,627102,740105,854108,968112,081115,195118,308121,422
GS-13111,065114,767118,470122,172125,874129,577133,279136,981140,684144,386
GS-14131,245135,621139,996144,372148,747153,122157,498161,873166,249170,624
GS-15154,378159,524164,670169,817174,963180,109185,255190,401195,547197,200
Hourly rates in Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH, 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-113.2213.6614.1014.5414.9815.2315.6716.1116.1216.53
GS-214.8615.2215.7116.1216.3116.7817.2617.7418.2218.70
GS-316.2216.7617.3017.8418.3818.9219.4620.0020.5421.08
GS-418.2018.8119.4220.0220.6321.2421.8522.4523.0623.67
GS-520.3721.0521.7322.4023.0823.7624.4425.1225.8026.48
GS-622.7023.4624.2224.9725.7326.4927.2428.0028.7629.52
GS-725.2326.0726.9127.7528.5929.4330.2831.1231.9632.80
GS-827.9428.8729.8030.7331.6732.6033.5334.4635.3936.32
GS-930.8631.8932.9233.9534.9836.0137.0338.0639.0940.12
GS-1033.9835.1236.2537.3838.5139.6540.7841.9143.0444.18
GS-1137.3438.5839.8341.0742.3243.5644.8146.0547.3048.54
GS-1244.7546.2447.7449.2350.7252.2153.7055.2056.6958.18
GS-1353.2254.9956.7758.5460.3162.0963.8665.6467.4169.18
GS-1462.8964.9867.0869.1871.2773.3775.4777.5679.6681.76
GS-1573.9776.4478.9081.3783.8386.3088.7791.2393.7094.49
Biweekly rates in Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH, 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-11,057.601,092.801,128.001,163.201,198.401,218.401,253.601,288.801,289.601,322.40
GS-21,188.801,217.601,256.801,289.601,304.801,342.401,380.801,419.201,457.601,496.00
GS-31,297.601,340.801,384.001,427.201,470.401,513.601,556.801,600.001,643.201,686.40
GS-41,456.001,504.801,553.601,601.601,650.401,699.201,748.001,796.001,844.801,893.60
GS-51,629.601,684.001,738.401,792.001,846.401,900.801,955.202,009.602,064.002,118.40
GS-61,816.001,876.801,937.601,997.602,058.402,119.202,179.202,240.002,300.802,361.60
GS-72,018.402,085.602,152.802,220.002,287.202,354.402,422.402,489.602,556.802,624.00
GS-82,235.202,309.602,384.002,458.402,533.602,608.002,682.402,756.802,831.202,905.60
GS-92,468.802,551.202,633.602,716.002,798.402,880.802,962.403,044.803,127.203,209.60
GS-102,718.402,809.602,900.002,990.403,080.803,172.003,262.403,352.803,443.203,534.40
GS-112,987.203,086.403,186.403,285.603,385.603,484.803,584.803,684.003,784.003,883.20
GS-123,580.003,699.203,819.203,938.404,057.604,176.804,296.004,416.004,535.204,654.40
GS-134,257.604,399.204,541.604,683.204,824.804,967.205,108.805,251.205,392.805,534.40
GS-145,031.205,198.405,366.405,534.405,701.605,869.606,037.606,204.806,372.806,540.80
GS-155,917.606,115.206,312.006,509.606,706.406,904.007,101.607,298.407,496.007,559.20
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-COL, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 22.15% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $105,854 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Columbus, 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
Columbus, OH17.4118.4918.9719.4720.0220.0220.6921.2721.8022.1522.15
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 Columbus, OH

Federal Salary Council estimates for Columbus, 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 area45.0938.1822.15
2025March 2023Locality pay area49.4942.3722.15
2024March 2022Locality pay area47.6440.6121.80
2023March 2021Locality pay area44.8937.9921.27
2022March 2020Locality pay area47.3740.3520.69
2021March 2019Locality pay area49.7242.5920.02
2020March 2018Locality pay area50.1042.9520.02
2019March 2017Locality pay area49.2542.1419.47
2018March 2016Locality pay area47.9640.9118.97

Across the nine editions checked here, the estimate for Columbus, OH has run from 44.89% (for pay in 2023) to 50.10% (for pay in 2020), the fifth-narrowest swing of the 56 areas with a gap in all of them.

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Columbus, 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
11Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA$102,45791.9$111,474
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

Federal jobs in Columbus, OH

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 23 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 4,004 federal jobs in Ohio without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202317,1561.35$85,109
202417,7301.38$87,599
202517,3691.33$90,173

Counties in Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH

23 counties paid at this rate

Ohio, 23 counties

  • Coshocton County (added 2024)
  • Delaware County
  • Fairfield County
  • Fayette County
  • Franklin County
  • Guernsey County
  • Hardin County (added 2024)
  • Hocking County
  • Knox County
  • Licking County
  • Logan County
  • Madison County
  • Marion County
  • Morgan County (added 2024)
  • Morrow County
  • Muskingum County
  • Noble County (added 2024)
  • Perry County
  • Pickaway County
  • Pike County (added 2024)
  • Ross County
  • Union County
  • Vinton County (added 2024)
Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions. The duty station’s county counts (how that works).