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

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  1. GS pay scale 2026
  2. States
  3. Idaho

58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

Idaho GS pay scale 2026: the 2 locality pay areas in the state

In 2026 a GS-12 step 5 in Idaho is paid $101,972 in Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'Alene, WA-ID and $101,443 in the rest of the state, which is on the Rest of U.S. rate.

Spread at GS-12 step 5

$529

Goes furthest

$101,620At U.S. prices, in Spokane, WA.

Against Rest of U.S.

+$529over $101,443

Which areas cover Idaho, and what each pays

GS-12 step 5 in 2026 in each area that covers Idaho, what it buys at national average prices (BEA price level, U.S. = 100) and how many of the state’s 44 counties it covers; the county of the duty station decides (how that works). Source: the OPM 2026 General Schedule table of each area — Salary Table 2026-SN (Spokane, WA), Salary Table 2026-RUS (Rest of U.S.).
Locality pay areaLocality payOn paperPrice levelWhat it buysCounties here
Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'Alene, WA-ID17.67%$101,972100.3$101,6203
Rest of U.S.17.06%$101,443——41

The $529 between its best- and lowest-paid areas is the narrowest spread inside any of the 38 states with more than one area.

41 of its 44 counties are on the Rest of U.S. rate, the third-largest share of the 35 states with such counties.

Its lowest-paid named area, Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'Alene, WA-ID, pays the fifth-least of the 58 areas at GS-12 step 5, Rest of U.S. included.

Counties of Idaho in each locality pay area, as OPM’s 2026 definitions list them; the county of the duty station decides (how that works).
Locality pay areaCounties
Spokane, WABenewah County, Kootenai County, Shoshone County
Rest of U.S.all other counties of Idaho (41)

Federal jobs in Idaho, area by area

14,025 federal civilian jobs in Idaho in 2025, 1.60% of all jobs in the state, 455 fewer than in 2024, down 3.14%, by the locality pay area of the worksite county; every federal pay system counted. The share is of the 13,422 jobs BLS places in a county. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024, 2025. The state total BLS publishes differs from the sum of its county rows by 5 jobs, from rounding of annual averages. Sources and caveats.
Locality pay areaFederal jobs, 2025Share, %Change from 2024
Rest of U.S.12,59093.8−429
Spokane, WA8326.2−17
No county reported608——

Of the jobs placed in a county here, 93.8% are on the Rest of U.S. rate, the fourth-highest share of the 35 states with such jobs and more than one area.

Every grade at step 5 in Idaho

Annual rates in U.S. dollars at step 5; ▲ marks a cell cut to the $197,200 statutory ceiling. For any other step, the pay calculator finds the area from a ZIP code.
GradeSpokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d'AleneRest of U.S.
GS-130,11129,954
GS-232,78132,611
GS-336,95336,762
GS-441,48041,265
GS-546,40846,167
GS-651,73151,463
GS-757,48757,188
GS-863,66263,332
GS-970,31869,954
GS-1077,43277,030
GS-1185,07984,638
GS-12101,972101,443
GS-13121,258120,629
GS-14143,291142,549
GS-15168,546167,672

Where else these areas reach

Locality pay areas are lists of counties and ignore state lines: inside one area a move across a state line does not change pay (how that works; every state and the areas in it).
AreaCounties hereAlso covers
Spokane, WA3Washington