58 locality pay areasPage last changed 2026-10-07

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

In 2026 a GS-12 step 5 in Tennessee is paid $105,646 in Huntsville-Decatur, AL-TN and $101,443 in the rest of the state, which is on the Rest of U.S. rate.

Spread at GS-12 step 5

$4,203

Goes furthest

$113,510At U.S. prices, in Huntsville, AL.

Against Rest of U.S.

+$4,203over $101,443

Which areas cover Tennessee, and what each pays

GS-12 step 5 in 2026 in each area that covers Tennessee, what it buys at national average prices (BEA price level, U.S. = 100) and how many of the state’s 95 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-HNT (Huntsville, AL), Salary Table 2026-RUS (Rest of U.S.).
Locality pay area	Locality pay	On paper	Price level	What it buys	Counties here
Huntsville-Decatur, AL-TN	21.91%	$105,646	93.1	$113,510	1
Rest of U.S.	17.06%	$101,443	—	—	94

94 of its 95 counties are on the Rest of U.S. rate, the largest share of the 35 states with such counties.

Counties of Tennessee in each locality pay area, as OPM’s 2026 definitions list them; the county of the duty station decides (how that works).
Locality pay area	Counties
Huntsville, AL	Lincoln County
Rest of U.S.	all other counties of Tennessee (94)

Federal jobs in Tennessee, area by area

56,419 federal civilian jobs in Tennessee in 2025, 1.73% of all jobs in the state, 1,720 fewer than in 2024, down 2.96%, by the locality pay area of the worksite county; every federal pay system counted. The share is of the 53,844 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 2 jobs, from rounding of annual averages. Sources and caveats.
Locality pay area	Federal jobs, 2025	Share, %	Change from 2024
Rest of U.S.	53,749	99.8	−1,601
Huntsville, AL	95	0.2	−16
No county reported	2,577	—	—

Of the jobs placed in a county here, 99.8% are on the Rest of U.S. rate, the highest share of the 35 states with such jobs and more than one area.

Every grade at step 5 in Tennessee

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.
Grade	Huntsville-Decatur	Rest of U.S.
GS-1	31,196	29,954
GS-2	33,962	32,611
GS-3	38,285	36,762
GS-4	42,974	41,265
GS-5	48,080	46,167
GS-6	53,595	51,463
GS-7	59,558	57,188
GS-8	65,956	63,332
GS-9	72,852	69,954
GS-10	80,222	77,030
GS-11	88,145	84,638
GS-12	105,646	101,443
GS-13	125,627	120,629
GS-14	148,455	142,549
GS-15	174,619	167,672

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).
Area	Counties here	Also covers
Huntsville, AL	1	Alabama