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

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Richmond, VA$105,967a year$4,061.60Every two weeks$50.77Per hour$51.03Overtime hour#24On paper#25After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Richmond, VA

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Richmond, VA GS pay scale 2026: 22.28% locality pay

In 2026 the Richmond, VA locality pay area adds 22.28% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $105,967, and the 150 rates run from $27,616 to $197,200, the statutory ceiling.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 22.28%
+ $19,308
Annual rate
$105,967

$4,061.60 every two weeks, $50.77 an hour, $51.03 an overtime hour.

#24 on paper, #25 after prices

−1Places lost, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$108,286Price level 97.9, U.S. = 100, for Richmond, VA.

Ceiling watch

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

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#24 of 57
Rank after local prices
#25 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+5.52 points
Rank of that change
#22 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
48.72%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
41.64%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
17,942
Share of all jobs here
2.57%
Largest county by federal jobs
Richmond City, VA: 6,751
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Richmond, VA

Every 2026 rate in Richmond, VA, 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-127,61628,54129,46030,37431,29031,82732,73633,65033,68834,542
GS-231,05131,78932,81933,68834,06535,06636,06837,06938,07139,072
GS-333,88135,01136,14137,27138,40139,53140,66141,79042,92044,050
GS-438,03339,30140,56941,83743,10544,37345,64146,90948,17749,445
GS-542,55243,97145,38946,80848,22649,64451,06352,48153,90055,318
GS-647,43449,01550,59652,17753,75855,33956,92058,50160,08261,663
GS-752,71054,46756,22457,98259,73961,49663,25365,01066,76768,524
GS-858,37460,32062,26564,21066,15668,10170,04771,99273,93875,883
GS-964,47566,62468,77470,92473,07375,22377,37379,52281,67283,822
GS-1071,00173,36775,73378,09980,46582,83185,19787,56389,93092,296
GS-1178,00980,60983,21085,81188,41291,01393,61496,21598,816101,417
GS-1293,49996,61699,733102,850105,967109,084112,200115,317118,434121,551
GS-13111,183114,889118,596122,302126,008129,715133,421137,127140,834144,540
GS-14131,385135,765140,145144,525148,905153,285157,665162,045166,426170,806
GS-15154,542159,694164,846169,997175,149180,301185,452190,604195,756197,200
Hourly rates in Richmond, VA, 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-113.2313.6814.1214.5514.9915.2515.6916.1216.1416.55
GS-214.8815.2315.7316.1416.3216.8017.2817.7618.2418.72
GS-316.2316.7817.3217.8618.4018.9419.4820.0220.5721.11
GS-418.2218.8319.4420.0520.6521.2621.8722.4823.0823.69
GS-520.3921.0721.7522.4323.1123.7924.4725.1525.8326.51
GS-622.7323.4924.2425.0025.7626.5227.2728.0328.7929.55
GS-725.2626.1026.9427.7828.6229.4730.3131.1531.9932.83
GS-827.9728.9029.8330.7731.7032.6333.5634.5035.4336.36
GS-930.8931.9232.9533.9835.0136.0437.0738.1039.1340.16
GS-1034.0235.1536.2937.4238.5639.6940.8241.9643.0944.22
GS-1137.3838.6239.8741.1242.3643.6144.8646.1047.3548.59
GS-1244.8046.2947.7949.2850.7752.2753.7655.2556.7558.24
GS-1353.2755.0556.8358.6060.3862.1563.9365.7167.4869.26
GS-1462.9565.0567.1569.2571.3573.4575.5577.6479.7481.84
GS-1574.0576.5278.9981.4683.9286.3988.8691.3393.8094.49
Biweekly rates in Richmond, VA, 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-11,058.401,094.401,129.601,164.001,199.201,220.001,255.201,289.601,291.201,324.00
GS-21,190.401,218.401,258.401,291.201,305.601,344.001,382.401,420.801,459.201,497.60
GS-31,298.401,342.401,385.601,428.801,472.001,515.201,558.401,601.601,645.601,688.80
GS-41,457.601,506.401,555.201,604.001,652.001,700.801,749.601,798.401,846.401,895.20
GS-51,631.201,685.601,740.001,794.401,848.801,903.201,957.602,012.002,066.402,120.80
GS-61,818.401,879.201,939.202,000.002,060.802,121.602,181.602,242.402,303.202,364.00
GS-72,020.802,088.002,155.202,222.402,289.602,357.602,424.802,492.002,559.202,626.40
GS-82,237.602,312.002,386.402,461.602,536.002,610.402,684.802,760.002,834.402,908.80
GS-92,471.202,553.602,636.002,718.402,800.802,883.202,965.603,048.003,130.403,212.80
GS-102,721.602,812.002,903.202,993.603,084.803,175.203,265.603,356.803,447.203,537.60
GS-112,990.403,089.603,189.603,289.603,388.803,488.803,588.803,688.003,788.003,887.20
GS-123,584.003,703.203,823.203,942.404,061.604,181.604,300.804,420.004,540.004,659.20
GS-134,261.604,404.004,546.404,688.004,830.404,972.005,114.405,256.805,398.405,540.80
GS-145,036.005,204.005,372.005,540.005,708.005,876.006,044.006,211.206,379.206,547.20
GS-155,924.006,121.606,319.206,516.806,713.606,911.207,108.807,306.407,504.007,559.20
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-RCH, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 22.28% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $105,967 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Richmond, VA 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
Richmond, VA16.7618.1918.7919.3819.9519.9520.6421.3821.9122.2822.28
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 climbed from 29th to 24th by locality percentage, the second-biggest climb of them, shared with Albany, NY and Charlotte, NC.

In 2024 OPM moved Caroline County in Virginia from it to Washington, DC.

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Richmond, VA

Federal Salary Council estimates for Richmond, VA 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 area48.7241.6422.28
2025March 2023Locality pay area50.4743.3022.28
2024March 2022Locality pay area47.5140.4921.91
2023March 2021Locality pay area49.9342.7921.38
2022March 2020Locality pay area48.1741.1120.64
2021March 2019Locality pay area48.7641.6819.95
2020March 2018Locality pay area50.6343.4619.95
2019March 2017Locality pay area53.1445.8519.38
2018March 2016Locality pay area53.7646.4418.79

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Richmond, VA 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
22St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL$104,01795.1$109,390
23Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD$111,781102.6$108,997
24San Antonio-New Braunfels-Pearsall, TX$102,93494.7$108,676
25Richmond, VA$105,96797.9$108,286
26Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC$105,93298.2$107,921
27Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Las Vegas, NM$102,54495.5$107,324
28Atlanta--Athens-Clarke County--Sandy Springs, GA-AL$107,275100.1$107,213

Federal jobs in Richmond, VA

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 24 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 5,638 federal jobs in Virginia without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202317,8162.62$94,353
202418,3552.66$96,062
202517,9422.57$98,146

Counties in Richmond, VA

24 counties paid at this rate

Virginia, 24 counties

  • Amelia County
  • Brunswick County (added 2024)
  • Charles City County
  • Chesterfield County
  • Colonial Heights city
  • Cumberland County
  • Dinwiddie County
  • Emporia city (added 2024)
  • Essex County (added 2024)
  • Goochland County
  • Greensville County (added 2024)
  • Hanover County
  • Henrico County
  • Hopewell city
  • King William County
  • King and Queen County
  • Louisa County
  • New Kent County
  • Nottoway County (added 2024)
  • Petersburg city
  • Powhatan County
  • Prince George County
  • Richmond city
  • Sussex County
Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions. The duty station’s county counts (how that works).