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

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Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC$102,951a year$3,946.40Every two weeks$49.33Per hour$49.58Overtime hour#45On paper#41After prices
  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Virginia Beach & Norfolk GS pay scale 2026: 18.80% locality pay

In 2026 the Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC locality pay area adds 18.80% to the General Schedule base table: a GS-12 step 5 earns $102,951, and the 150 rates run from $26,830 to $195,190.

GS-12 step 5, assembled

Base rate
$86,659
Locality pay, 18.80%
+ $16,292
Annual rate
$102,951

$3,946.40 every two weeks, $49.33 an hour, $49.58 an overtime hour.

#45 on paper, #41 after prices

+4Places gained, of 57 areas with a price index.

Buys at U.S. prices

$105,115Price level 97.9, U.S. = 100, for Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC.

Ceiling watch

ClearNo cell reaches $197,200.

Key facts

Rank on paper, GS-12 step 5
#45 of 57
Rank after local prices
#41 of 57
Locality pay change since 2016
+4.45 points
Rank of that change
#38 of 58
Pay gap, latest council estimate
42.42%
Rate the 1990 formula would set
35.64%
Federal civilian jobs, 2025
60,658
Share of all jobs here
7.24%
Largest county by federal jobs
Norfolk City, VA: 21,547
Sources and methods

Every 2026 rate in Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC

Every 2026 rate in Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC, 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-126,83027,72928,62129,51030,40030,92131,80432,69332,72933,559
GS-230,16730,88431,88532,72933,09534,06835,04136,01436,98737,960
GS-332,91734,01535,11336,21037,30838,40639,50340,60141,69942,797
GS-436,95038,18239,41440,64641,87843,11044,34245,57446,80648,038
GS-541,34142,71944,09745,47546,85448,23249,61050,98852,36653,744
GS-646,08447,62049,15650,69252,22853,76455,30056,83658,37259,908
GS-751,21052,91754,62456,33158,03959,74661,45363,16064,86766,574
GS-856,71358,60360,49362,38364,27366,16368,05369,94471,83473,724
GS-962,64064,72866,81768,90570,99473,08275,17177,25979,34881,436
GS-1068,98071,27973,57875,87678,17580,47482,77385,07187,37089,669
GS-1175,78878,31580,84283,36985,89688,42390,95093,47796,00398,530
GS-1290,83893,86696,89499,923102,951105,979109,007112,036115,064118,092
GS-13108,019111,620115,221118,821122,422126,023129,624133,225136,826140,426
GS-14127,646131,901136,157140,412144,668148,923153,178157,434161,689165,945
GS-15150,144155,149160,154165,159170,164175,169180,174185,180190,185195,190
Hourly rates in Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC, 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-112.8613.2913.7114.1414.5714.8215.2415.6715.6816.08
GS-214.4514.8015.2815.6815.8616.3216.7917.2617.7218.19
GS-315.7716.3016.8217.3517.8818.4018.9319.4519.9820.51
GS-417.7018.3018.8919.4820.0720.6621.2521.8422.4323.02
GS-519.8120.4721.1321.7922.4523.1123.7724.4325.0925.75
GS-622.0822.8223.5524.2925.0325.7626.5027.2327.9728.71
GS-724.5425.3626.1726.9927.8128.6329.4530.2631.0831.90
GS-827.1728.0828.9929.8930.8031.7032.6133.5134.4235.33
GS-930.0131.0132.0233.0234.0235.0236.0237.0238.0239.02
GS-1033.0534.1535.2636.3637.4638.5639.6640.7641.8642.97
GS-1136.3137.5338.7439.9541.1642.3743.5844.7946.0047.21
GS-1243.5344.9846.4347.8849.3350.7852.2353.6855.1356.58
GS-1351.7653.4855.2156.9358.6660.3862.1163.8465.5667.29
GS-1461.1663.2065.2467.2869.3271.3673.4075.4477.4779.51
GS-1571.9474.3476.7479.1481.5483.9386.3388.7391.1393.53
Biweekly rates in Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC, 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-11,028.801,063.201,096.801,131.201,165.601,185.601,219.201,253.601,254.401,286.40
GS-21,156.001,184.001,222.401,254.401,268.801,305.601,343.201,380.801,417.601,455.20
GS-31,261.601,304.001,345.601,388.001,430.401,472.001,514.401,556.001,598.401,640.80
GS-41,416.001,464.001,511.201,558.401,605.601,652.801,700.001,747.201,794.401,841.60
GS-51,584.801,637.601,690.401,743.201,796.001,848.801,901.601,954.402,007.202,060.00
GS-61,766.401,825.601,884.001,943.202,002.402,060.802,120.002,178.402,237.602,296.80
GS-71,963.202,028.802,093.602,159.202,224.802,290.402,356.002,420.802,486.402,552.00
GS-82,173.602,246.402,319.202,391.202,464.002,536.002,608.802,680.802,753.602,826.40
GS-92,400.802,480.802,561.602,641.602,721.602,801.602,881.602,961.603,041.603,121.60
GS-102,644.002,732.002,820.802,908.802,996.803,084.803,172.803,260.803,348.803,437.60
GS-112,904.803,002.403,099.203,196.003,292.803,389.603,486.403,583.203,680.003,776.80
GS-123,482.403,598.403,714.403,830.403,946.404,062.404,178.404,294.404,410.404,526.40
GS-134,140.804,278.404,416.804,554.404,692.804,830.404,968.805,107.205,244.805,383.20
GS-144,892.805,056.005,219.205,382.405,545.605,708.805,872.006,035.206,197.606,360.80
GS-155,755.205,947.206,139.206,331.206,523.206,714.406,906.407,098.407,290.407,482.40
Source: OPM 2026 General Schedule salary table for this area, Salary Table 2026-VB, matched cell by cell.

Under the 2027 proposal this area keeps 18.80% and GS-12 step 5 keeps $102,951 (2027 pay raise; compare with Rest of U.S.).

Locality pay in Virginia Beach, 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. 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
Virginia Beach, VA14.3515.0615.3715.9116.5116.5117.1817.9418.4618.8018.80
Rest of U.S.14.3515.0615.3715.6715.9515.9516.2016.5016.8217.0617.06

Virginia Beach, VA got a locality pay table of its own in 2019; 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 Virginia Beach, VA

Federal Salary Council estimates for Virginia Beach, 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 area42.4235.6418.80
2025March 2023Locality pay area45.3338.4118.80
2024March 2022Locality pay area43.5436.7018.46
2023March 2021Locality pay area46.8539.8617.94
2022March 2020Locality pay area43.9637.1017.18
2021March 2019Locality pay area45.4538.5216.51
2020March 2018Locality pay area48.7141.6316.51
2019March 2017Locality pay area47.3240.3015.91
2018March 2016Proposed locality pay area47.4140.3915.37

What a GS-12 step 5 buys after local prices

The areas ranked next to Virginia Beach, 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
38Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI$110,594104.8$105,506
39Sacramento-Roseville, CA-NV$112,449106.7$105,418
40Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY$102,15497.0$105,275
41Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC$102,95197.9$105,115
42Albany-Schenectady, NY-MA$104,65899.6$105,114
43Harrisburg-Lebanon, PA$103,49798.7$104,913
44Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA$118,264113.6$104,137

Federal jobs in Virginia Beach, VA

Federal civilian jobs at worksites in the 27 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 12,448 federal jobs in North Carolina and Virginia without a county; they belong to no area. Sources and caveats.
YearFederal civilian jobsShare of all jobs, %Average pay per job
202360,0677.36$90,732
202461,0907.41$93,490
202560,6587.24$95,159

Federal jobs of every pay system are 7.24% of all jobs here, the second-highest share of the 58 areas.

Federal jobs here fell from 2024 to 2025, 432 fewer than in 2024, down 0.71%, the fourth-smallest drop of the 55 areas where they fell, and the 2025 average still counts staff on paid administrative leave until 30 September.

No single county holds more than 35.5% of them, the fifth-smallest such share of the 56 areas with more than one county; the most, 21,547, are in Norfolk City, Virginia.

Counties in Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC

27 counties paid at this rate

North Carolina, 9 counties

  • Camden County
  • Chowan County (added 2024)
  • Currituck County
  • Dare County
  • Gates County
  • Hertford County (added 2024)
  • Pasquotank County
  • Perquimans County
  • Tyrrell County

Virginia, 18 counties

  • Chesapeake city
  • Franklin city (added 2024)
  • Gloucester County
  • Hampton city
  • Isle of Wight County
  • James City County
  • Mathews County
  • Middlesex County (added 2024)
  • Newport News city
  • Norfolk city
  • Poquoson city
  • Portsmouth city
  • Southampton County (added 2024)
  • Suffolk city
  • Surry County (added 2024)
  • Virginia Beach city
  • Williamsburg city
  • York County
Source: OPM 2026 locality pay area definitions. The duty station’s county counts (how that works).