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

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Seattle-Tacoma, WA$114,017a year$4,370.40Every two weeks$54.63Per hour$54.92Overtime hour#10On paper#50After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Seattle-Tacoma, WA

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Seattle & Tacoma GS pay scale 2026: 31.57% locality pay

In 2026 the Seattle-Tacoma, WA locality pay area adds 31.57% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $114,017, and the 150 rates run from $29,714 to $197,200, the statutory ceiling.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 31.57%
+ $27,358
Annual rate
$114,017

$4,370.40 every two weeks, $54.63 an hour, $54.92 an overtime hour.

#10 on paper, #50 after prices

−40Places lost, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$102,595Price level 111.1, U.S. = 100, for Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA.

Ceiling watch

4 of 150cells held to $197,200, from GS-15 step 7.

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#10 of 57
Rank after local prices
#50 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+9.31 points
Rank of that change
#2 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
85.77%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
76.92%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
58,208
Share of all jobs here
2.26%
Largest county by federal jobs
Kitsap County, WA: 20,982
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Seattle-Tacoma, WA

Every 2026 rate in Seattle-Tacoma, WA, 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 4 cells cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling.
Grade12345678910
GS-129,71430,71031,69832,68233,66734,24535,22336,20736,24837,166
GS-233,41034,20435,31236,24836,65337,73038,80839,88540,96342,041
GS-336,45537,67138,88740,10341,31842,53443,75044,96546,18147,397
GS-440,92242,28743,65145,01546,38047,74449,10950,47351,83753,202
GS-545,78547,31148,83750,36451,89053,41654,94256,46957,99559,521
GS-651,03752,73954,44056,14157,84259,54361,24562,94664,64766,348
GS-756,71558,60560,49662,38764,27766,16868,05969,94971,84073,731
GS-862,80964,90266,99569,08971,18273,27575,36977,46279,55581,648
GS-969,37371,68673,99976,31278,62580,93883,25185,56487,87790,190
GS-1076,39578,94181,48784,03286,57889,12491,67094,21696,76299,308
GS-1183,93586,73489,53292,33195,12997,928100,726103,525106,323109,122
GS-12100,602103,956107,310110,664114,017117,371120,725124,078127,432130,786
GS-13119,630123,618127,606131,594135,582139,569143,557147,545151,533155,521
GS-14141,367146,080150,792155,505160,218164,931169,644174,357179,069183,782
GS-15166,283171,826177,370182,913188,456193,999197,200197,200197,200197,200
Hourly rates in Seattle-Tacoma, WA, 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-114.2414.7115.1915.6616.1316.4116.8817.3517.3717.81
GS-216.0116.3916.9217.3717.5618.0818.6019.1119.6320.14
GS-317.4718.0518.6319.2219.8020.3820.9621.5522.1322.71
GS-419.6120.2620.9221.5722.2222.8823.5324.1824.8425.49
GS-521.9422.6723.4024.1324.8625.5926.3327.0627.7928.52
GS-624.4525.2726.0926.9027.7228.5329.3530.1630.9831.79
GS-727.1828.0828.9929.8930.8031.7032.6133.5234.4235.33
GS-830.1031.1032.1033.1034.1135.1136.1137.1238.1239.12
GS-933.2434.3535.4636.5737.6738.7839.8941.0042.1143.22
GS-1036.6137.8339.0540.2641.4842.7043.9245.1446.3647.58
GS-1140.2241.5642.9044.2445.5846.9248.2649.6050.9552.29
GS-1248.2049.8151.4253.0354.6356.2457.8559.4561.0662.67
GS-1357.3259.2361.1463.0564.9766.8868.7970.7072.6174.52
GS-1467.7470.0072.2574.5176.7779.0381.2983.5485.8088.06
GS-1579.6882.3384.9987.6490.3092.9694.4994.4994.4994.49
Biweekly rates in Seattle-Tacoma, WA, 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-11,139.201,176.801,215.201,252.801,290.401,312.801,350.401,388.001,389.601,424.80
GS-21,280.801,311.201,353.601,389.601,404.801,446.401,488.001,528.801,570.401,611.20
GS-31,397.601,444.001,490.401,537.601,584.001,630.401,676.801,724.001,770.401,816.80
GS-41,568.801,620.801,673.601,725.601,777.601,830.401,882.401,934.401,987.202,039.20
GS-51,755.201,813.601,872.001,930.401,988.802,047.202,106.402,164.802,223.202,281.60
GS-61,956.002,021.602,087.202,152.002,217.602,282.402,348.002,412.802,478.402,543.20
GS-72,174.402,246.402,319.202,391.202,464.002,536.002,608.802,681.602,753.602,826.40
GS-82,408.002,488.002,568.002,648.002,728.802,808.802,888.802,969.603,049.603,129.60
GS-92,659.202,748.002,836.802,925.603,013.603,102.403,191.203,280.003,368.803,457.60
GS-102,928.803,026.403,124.003,220.803,318.403,416.003,513.603,611.203,708.803,806.40
GS-113,217.603,324.803,432.003,539.203,646.403,753.603,860.803,968.004,076.004,183.20
GS-123,856.003,984.804,113.604,242.404,370.404,499.204,628.004,756.004,884.805,013.60
GS-134,585.604,738.404,891.205,044.005,197.605,350.405,503.205,656.005,808.805,961.60
GS-145,419.205,600.005,780.005,960.806,141.606,322.406,503.206,683.206,864.007,044.80
GS-156,374.406,586.406,799.207,011.207,224.007,436.807,559.207,559.207,559.207,559.20
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-SEA, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 31.57% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $114,017 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Seattle, WA 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
Seattle, WA22.2624.2425.1126.0427.0227.0228.2829.5730.8131.5731.57
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

From 2016 to 2026 its locality payment rose 9.31 percentage points, from 22.26% to 31.57%, the second-largest rise of the 58 areas.

Among the 46 areas with a table of their own since 2016, it has climbed from 14th to 10th by locality percentage, the fifth-biggest climb of them, shared with Washington, DC and San Diego, CA.

What the 1990 pay law’s formula would pay in Seattle, WA

Federal Salary Council estimates for Seattle, WA 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 area85.7776.9231.57
2025March 2023Locality pay area83.6374.8931.57
2024March 2022Locality pay area83.2974.5630.81
2023March 2021Locality pay area75.2466.9029.57
2022March 2020Locality pay area73.9965.7028.28
2021March 2019Locality pay area74.6366.3127.02
2020March 2018Locality pay area76.1167.7227.02
2019March 2017Locality pay area76.2967.9026.04
2018March 2016Locality pay area73.2364.9825.11

The formula would pay Seattle, WA 76.92%, 45.35 points above the 31.57% paid in 2026, the second-widest distance between formula and pay of the 57 areas with a formula rate.

The latest estimate puts non-federal pay for the same work here 85.77% above General Schedule base pay, the second-largest gap of the 58 areas.

Since the edition for pay in 2018, the first checked here, the estimate for Seattle, WA has risen 12.54 points, from 73.23% to 85.77%, the second-biggest rise of the 56 areas with a gap in all nine editions.

In the latest edition the estimate for Seattle, WA rose 2.14 points, to 85.77%; the only other area where it rose is Laredo, TX.

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Seattle, WA 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
47Las Vegas-Henderson, NV-AZ$103,618100.2$103,396
48Colorado Springs, CO$104,121100.7$103,390
49Phoenix-Mesa, AZ$106,114103.3$102,708
50Seattle-Tacoma, WA$114,017111.1$102,595
51Burlington-South Burlington-Barre, VT$103,514100.9$102,541
52Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL$102,197100.0$102,192
53Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'Alene, WA-ID$101,972100.3$101,620

It ranks #10 on paper and #50 once local prices are counted, a drop of 40 places, the second-biggest of the 57 areas, shared with San Diego, CA.

Federal jobs in Seattle, WA

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 15 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 2,821 federal jobs in Washington without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202358,1462.26$98,118
202459,6122.31$101,734
202558,2082.26$103,821

Counties in Seattle-Tacoma, WA

15 counties paid at this rate

Washington, 15 counties

  • Clallam County (added 2024)
  • Grays Harbor County (added 2024)
  • Island County
  • Jefferson County (added 2024)
  • King County
  • Kitsap County
  • Lewis County
  • Mason County
  • Pacific County (added 2024)
  • Pierce County
  • San Juan County (added 2024)
  • Skagit County
  • Snohomish County
  • Thurston County
  • Whatcom County
Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions. The duty station’s county counts (how that works).