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

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Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA$102,266a year$3,920.00Every two weeks$49.00Per hour$49.25Overtime hour#51On paper#10After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Des Moines, IA GS pay scale 2026: 18.01% locality pay

In 2026 the Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA locality pay area adds 18.01% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $102,266, and the 150 rates run from $26,651 to $193,892.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 18.01%
+ $15,607
Annual rate
$102,266

$3,920.00 every two weeks, $49.00 an hour, $49.25 an overtime hour.

#51 on paper, #10 after prices

+41Places gained, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$111,521Price level 91.7, U.S. = 100, for Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA.

Ceiling watch

ClearNo cell reaches $197,200.

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#51 of 57
Rank after local prices
#10 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+3.66 points
Rank of that change
#47 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
42.32%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
35.54%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
8,348
Share of all jobs here
1.61%
Largest county by federal jobs
Polk County, IA: 6,503
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA

Every 2026 rate in Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA, 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-126,65127,54528,43129,31430,19830,71631,59232,47532,51233,335
GS-229,96630,67931,67332,51232,87533,84234,80835,77536,74137,708
GS-332,69833,78934,87935,96937,06038,15039,24140,33141,42242,512
GS-436,70537,92839,15240,37641,60042,82344,04745,27146,49547,719
GS-541,06642,43543,80445,17346,54247,91149,28050,64952,01853,387
GS-645,77747,30348,82950,35551,88153,40754,93256,45857,98459,510
GS-750,86952,56554,26155,95757,65359,34861,04462,74064,43666,132
GS-856,33658,21360,09161,96863,84665,72367,60169,47871,35673,233
GS-962,22364,29866,37268,44770,52272,59674,67176,74578,82080,895
GS-1068,52170,80573,08875,37277,65579,93982,22284,50686,78989,073
GS-1175,28477,79580,30582,81585,32587,83590,34592,85595,36597,875
GS-1290,23493,24296,25099,258102,266105,274108,282111,291114,299117,307
GS-13107,301110,877114,454118,031121,608125,185128,762132,339135,916139,493
GS-14126,797131,024135,251139,478143,705147,933152,160156,387160,614164,841
GS-15149,146154,118159,089164,061169,033174,005178,976183,948188,920193,892
Hourly rates in Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA, 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-112.7713.2013.6214.0514.4714.7215.1415.5615.5815.97
GS-214.3614.7015.1815.5815.7516.2216.6817.1417.6018.07
GS-315.6716.1916.7117.2317.7618.2818.8019.3219.8520.37
GS-417.5918.1718.7619.3519.9320.5221.1121.6922.2822.86
GS-519.6820.3320.9921.6422.3022.9623.6124.2724.9225.58
GS-621.9322.6723.4024.1324.8625.5926.3227.0527.7828.51
GS-724.3725.1926.0026.8127.6228.4429.2530.0630.8731.69
GS-826.9927.8928.7929.6930.5931.4932.3933.2934.1935.09
GS-929.8130.8131.8032.8033.7934.7835.7836.7737.7738.76
GS-1032.8333.9335.0236.1137.2138.3039.4040.4941.5942.68
GS-1136.0737.2838.4839.6840.8842.0943.2944.4945.6946.90
GS-1243.2444.6846.1247.5649.0050.4451.8853.3354.7756.21
GS-1351.4153.1354.8456.5658.2759.9861.7063.4165.1366.84
GS-1460.7662.7864.8166.8368.8670.8872.9174.9376.9678.98
GS-1571.4673.8576.2378.6180.9983.3885.7688.1490.5292.90
Biweekly rates in Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA, 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-11,021.601,056.001,089.601,124.001,157.601,177.601,211.201,244.801,246.401,277.60
GS-21,148.801,176.001,214.401,246.401,260.001,297.601,334.401,371.201,408.001,445.60
GS-31,253.601,295.201,336.801,378.401,420.801,462.401,504.001,545.601,588.001,629.60
GS-41,407.201,453.601,500.801,548.001,594.401,641.601,688.801,735.201,782.401,828.80
GS-51,574.401,626.401,679.201,731.201,784.001,836.801,888.801,941.601,993.602,046.40
GS-61,754.401,813.601,872.001,930.401,988.802,047.202,105.602,164.002,222.402,280.80
GS-71,949.602,015.202,080.002,144.802,209.602,275.202,340.002,404.802,469.602,535.20
GS-82,159.202,231.202,303.202,375.202,447.202,519.202,591.202,663.202,735.202,807.20
GS-92,384.802,464.802,544.002,624.002,703.202,782.402,862.402,941.603,021.603,100.80
GS-102,626.402,714.402,801.602,888.802,976.803,064.003,152.003,239.203,327.203,414.40
GS-112,885.602,982.403,078.403,174.403,270.403,367.203,463.203,559.203,655.203,752.00
GS-123,459.203,574.403,689.603,804.803,920.004,035.204,150.404,266.404,381.604,496.80
GS-134,112.804,250.404,387.204,524.804,661.604,798.404,936.005,072.805,210.405,347.20
GS-144,860.805,022.405,184.805,346.405,508.805,670.405,832.805,994.406,156.806,318.40
GS-155,716.805,908.006,098.406,288.806,479.206,670.406,860.807,051.207,241.607,432.00
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-DM, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 18.01% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $102,266 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Des Moines, IA 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. Grey: the Rest of U.S. rate its counties were paid before it had a table of its own. Sources and caveats.
Locality pay, %20162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Des Moines, IA14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.5217.1317.6818.0118.01
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

Des Moines, IA got a locality pay table of its own in 2021; the grey figures before that are the Rest of U.S. rate its counties were paid.

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Des Moines, IA

Federal Salary Council estimates for Des Moines, IA 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. Formula rate “—”: the memos print none for a Rest of U.S. research area, whose gap is from the memo’s research-area table. 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 area42.3235.5418.01
2025March 2023Locality pay area43.9037.0518.01
2024March 2022Locality pay area44.0437.1817.68
2023March 2021Locality pay area41.5334.7917.13
2022March 2020Locality pay area39.9733.3016.52
2021March 2019Proposed locality pay area43.2336.4115.95
2020March 2018Rest of U.S. research area44.71—15.95
2019March 2017Rest of U.S. research area46.53—15.67
2018March 2016Rest of U.S. research area43.00—15.37

Des Moines, IA is a separate locality pay area in the memos from the edition for pay in 2021; before that, in three editions it is a Rest of U.S. research area, with a gap of 43.00% to 46.53%.

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Des Moines, IA 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
7State of Alaska$114,702102.4$112,059
8Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL$102,46691.6$111,809
9Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI$111,894100.3$111,562
10Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA$102,26691.7$111,521
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

Local prices here, 91.7 against a U.S. average of 100, are the fourth-lowest of the 57 areas with a price index.

It ranks #51 on paper and #10 once local prices are counted, a gain of 41 places, the biggest of the 57 areas, shared with Davenport, IA.

Federal jobs in Des Moines, IA

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 17 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 22 federal jobs in Iowa without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
20238,3701.63$83,300
20248,5641.64$86,749
20258,3481.61$89,903

Counties in Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA

17 counties paid at this rate

Iowa, 17 counties

  • Adair County (added 2024)
  • Boone County
  • Clarke County (added 2024)
  • Dallas County
  • Greene County (added 2024)
  • Guthrie County
  • Hamilton County (added 2024)
  • Jasper County
  • Lucas County (added 2024)
  • Madison County
  • Mahaska County (added 2024)
  • Marion County (added 2024)
  • Monroe County (added 2024)
  • Polk County
  • Poweshiek County (added 2024)
  • Story County
  • Warren County
Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions. The duty station’s county counts (how that works).