GS pay scale 2026
Rest of U.S.

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Rest of U.S. GS pay scale 2026: 17.06% locality pay

In 2026 the Rest of U.S. locality pay area adds 17.06% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $101,443, and the 150 rates run from $26,437 to $192,331.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate: $86,659
Locality pay, 17.06%: + $14,784
Annual rate: $101,443

$3,888.80 every two weeks, $48.61 an hour, $48.86 an overtime hour.

Rank

—No published price index.

Locality pay

17.06%On every grade and step.

Ceiling watch

ClearNo cell reaches $197,200.

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5: no price index
Rank after local prices: no price index
Locality pay change since 2016: +2.71 points
Rank of that change: #58 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate: 36.06%
Rate the 1990 formula would set: 29.58%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025: 817,879
Share of all jobs here: 1.82%
Largest county by federal jobs: Oklahoma County, OK: 29,047

Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Rest of U.S.

A yearAn hourEvery two weeks

Every 2026 rate in Rest of U.S., 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.
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	26,437	27,323	28,202	29,078	29,954	30,468	31,338	32,214	32,250	33,067
GS-2	29,725	30,432	31,418	32,250	32,611	33,569	34,528	35,487	36,445	37,404
GS-3	32,435	33,517	34,598	35,680	36,762	37,843	38,925	40,006	41,088	42,170
GS-4	36,409	37,623	38,837	40,051	41,265	42,479	43,693	44,907	46,120	47,334
GS-5	40,736	42,094	43,452	44,809	46,167	47,525	48,883	50,241	51,599	52,957
GS-6	45,409	46,922	48,436	49,950	51,463	52,977	54,490	56,004	57,517	59,031
GS-7	50,460	52,142	53,824	55,506	57,188	58,871	60,553	62,235	63,917	65,599
GS-8	55,882	57,745	59,607	61,469	63,332	65,194	67,057	68,919	70,781	72,644
GS-9	61,722	63,780	65,838	67,896	69,954	72,012	74,070	76,128	78,186	80,243
GS-10	67,970	70,235	72,500	74,765	77,030	79,295	81,560	83,825	86,091	88,356
GS-11	74,678	77,168	79,658	82,148	84,638	87,128	89,618	92,107	94,597	97,087
GS-12	89,508	92,491	95,475	98,459	101,443	104,427	107,411	110,395	113,378	116,362
GS-13	106,437	109,985	113,533	117,081	120,629	124,177	127,725	131,273	134,822	138,370
GS-14	125,776	129,969	134,162	138,356	142,549	146,742	150,935	155,128	159,321	163,514
GS-15	147,945	152,877	157,809	162,740	167,672	172,604	177,536	182,467	187,399	192,331

Hourly rates in Rest of U.S., 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.
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	12.67	13.09	13.51	13.93	14.35	14.60	15.02	15.44	15.45	15.84
GS-2	14.24	14.58	15.05	15.45	15.63	16.08	16.54	17.00	17.46	17.92
GS-3	15.54	16.06	16.58	17.10	17.61	18.13	18.65	19.17	19.69	20.21
GS-4	17.45	18.03	18.61	19.19	19.77	20.35	20.94	21.52	22.10	22.68
GS-5	19.52	20.17	20.82	21.47	22.12	22.77	23.42	24.07	24.72	25.37
GS-6	21.76	22.48	23.21	23.93	24.66	25.38	26.11	26.83	27.56	28.29
GS-7	24.18	24.98	25.79	26.60	27.40	28.21	29.01	29.82	30.63	31.43
GS-8	26.78	27.67	28.56	29.45	30.35	31.24	32.13	33.02	33.92	34.81
GS-9	29.57	30.56	31.55	32.53	33.52	34.51	35.49	36.48	37.46	38.45
GS-10	32.57	33.65	34.74	35.82	36.91	37.99	39.08	40.17	41.25	42.34
GS-11	35.78	36.98	38.17	39.36	40.55	41.75	42.94	44.13	45.33	46.52
GS-12	42.89	44.32	45.75	47.18	48.61	50.04	51.47	52.90	54.33	55.76
GS-13	51.00	52.70	54.40	56.10	57.80	59.50	61.20	62.90	64.60	66.30
GS-14	60.27	62.28	64.28	66.29	68.30	70.31	72.32	74.33	76.34	78.35
GS-15	70.89	73.25	75.62	77.98	80.34	82.70	85.07	87.43	89.79	92.16

Biweekly rates in Rest of U.S., 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.
Grade	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
GS-1	1,013.60	1,047.20	1,080.80	1,114.40	1,148.00	1,168.00	1,201.60	1,235.20	1,236.00	1,267.20
GS-2	1,139.20	1,166.40	1,204.00	1,236.00	1,250.40	1,286.40	1,323.20	1,360.00	1,396.80	1,433.60
GS-3	1,243.20	1,284.80	1,326.40	1,368.00	1,408.80	1,450.40	1,492.00	1,533.60	1,575.20	1,616.80
GS-4	1,396.00	1,442.40	1,488.80	1,535.20	1,581.60	1,628.00	1,675.20	1,721.60	1,768.00	1,814.40
GS-5	1,561.60	1,613.60	1,665.60	1,717.60	1,769.60	1,821.60	1,873.60	1,925.60	1,977.60	2,029.60
GS-6	1,740.80	1,798.40	1,856.80	1,914.40	1,972.80	2,030.40	2,088.80	2,146.40	2,204.80	2,263.20
GS-7	1,934.40	1,998.40	2,063.20	2,128.00	2,192.00	2,256.80	2,320.80	2,385.60	2,450.40	2,514.40
GS-8	2,142.40	2,213.60	2,284.80	2,356.00	2,428.00	2,499.20	2,570.40	2,641.60	2,713.60	2,784.80
GS-9	2,365.60	2,444.80	2,524.00	2,602.40	2,681.60	2,760.80	2,839.20	2,918.40	2,996.80	3,076.00
GS-10	2,605.60	2,692.00	2,779.20	2,865.60	2,952.80	3,039.20	3,126.40	3,213.60	3,300.00	3,387.20
GS-11	2,862.40	2,958.40	3,053.60	3,148.80	3,244.00	3,340.00	3,435.20	3,530.40	3,626.40	3,721.60
GS-12	3,431.20	3,545.60	3,660.00	3,774.40	3,888.80	4,003.20	4,117.60	4,232.00	4,346.40	4,460.80
GS-13	4,080.00	4,216.00	4,352.00	4,488.00	4,624.00	4,760.00	4,896.00	5,032.00	5,168.00	5,304.00
GS-14	4,821.60	4,982.40	5,142.40	5,303.20	5,464.00	5,624.80	5,785.60	5,946.40	6,107.20	6,268.00
GS-15	5,671.20	5,860.00	6,049.60	6,238.40	6,427.20	6,616.00	6,805.60	6,994.40	7,183.20	7,372.80

Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-RUS, matched cell by cell.

At 17.06%, its locality payment is the lowest of the 58 areas.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 17.06% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $101,443 (2027 pay raise; compare with Washington, DC).

The Rest of U.S. rate since 2016

Solid line: this area.

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, %	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Rest of U.S.	14.35	15.06	15.37	15.67	15.95	15.95	16.20	16.50	16.82	17.06	17.06

From 2016 to 2026 the Rest of U.S. rate rose 2.71 percentage points, from 14.35% to 17.06%, the smallest rise of the 58 areas; just above it are Cincinnati, OH and Reno, NV (+3.17 points each).

It has no county list of its own: the 24 areas that got a table of their own since 2016, 13 in 2016, 6 in 2019, 1 in 2021 and 4 in 2024, were all drawn from counties on its rate.

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Rest of U.S.

Federal Salary Council estimates for Rest of U.S. 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 in	Data as of	Listed as	Pay gap, %	Formula rate, %	Rate paid that year, %
2026	March 2024	Locality pay area	36.06	29.58	17.06
2025	March 2023	Locality pay area	37.18	30.65	17.06
2024	March 2022	Locality pay area	34.54	28.13	16.82
2023	March 2021	Locality pay area	31.40	25.14	16.50
2022	March 2020	Locality pay area	29.83	23.65	16.20
2021	March 2019	Locality pay area	32.43	26.12	15.95
2020	March 2018	Locality pay area	33.75	27.38	15.95
2019	March 2017	Locality pay area	35.99	29.51	15.67
2018	March 2016	Locality pay area	36.09	29.61	15.37

The latest estimate puts non-federal pay for the same work here 36.06% above General Schedule base pay, the second-smallest gap of the 58 areas.

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

Rest of U.S. is every county outside the named areas, in every state at once, so it has no single published price index and is left out of this ranking rather than given an invented figure.

Federal jobs in Rest of U.S.

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in counties outside every named 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. Sources and caveats.
Year	Federal civilian jobs	Share of all jobs, %	Average pay per job
2023	824,038	1.86	$83,743
2024	841,234	1.88	$87,526
2025	817,879	1.82	$90,634

Its 817,879 federal civilian jobs in 2025, the Postal Service included, are the largest federal workforce of the 58 areas; next comes Washington, DC (438,353).

No single county holds more than 3.6% of them, the smallest such share of the 56 areas with more than one county; the most, 29,047, are in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.

BLS also reports 103,573 federal jobs without a county; they cannot be placed in any area, Rest of U.S. included. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, also on the Rest of U.S. rate, add 21,701 federal jobs that are not counted here.

Where the Rest of U.S. rate applies

Every county outside the 57 named areas is on this rate, and in 8 states, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, it is the only rate: they have no named locality pay area at all.