The 2026 OPM pay scale gives most General Schedule (GS) federal employees a modest 1% base pay increase, with locality rates frozen at 2025 levels and some additional boosts for certain law enforcement positions.

2026 GS Pay Raise: Quick Scoop

  • The 2026 federal pay raise for GS employees is set at a 1% acrossā€‘theā€‘board increase to base pay.
  • Locality pay percentages (like Washingtonā€“Baltimore, San Francisco, ā€œRest of U.S.ā€) stay the same as in 2025, so the overall average raise is effectively about 1% for most employees.
  • The new rates take effect with the first pay period starting on or after January 1, 2026 (for many agencies this is around January 11, 2026).

Key Numbers and Special Cases

  • The 2026 GS base pay table reflects that 1% bump at all grades and steps, from GSā€‘1 through GSā€‘15, before locality is added.
  • Higher GS pay is still capped at the Executive Schedule limits; for example, many upperā€‘step GSā€‘15 salaries are capped below their raw table amount in highā€‘cost localities.
  • Certain law enforcement officers receive an extra specialā€‘rate increase of about 2.8% on top of the 1% general raise, for a total of roughly 3.8% in 2026.

How to Check Your Exact 2026 Pay

To get your precise salary for 2026, you need three pieces of info: your GS grade, your step, and your locality pay area.

  1. Find the 2026 GS base pay table (Salary Table 2026ā€‘GS).
  2. Look up your grade and step for the annual base amount.
  3. Apply your locality percentage from the 2026 General Schedule locality tables on OPMā€™s site for your metro area or ā€œRest of U.S.ā€.

Example GS Base Pay Snapshot (No Locality)

Below is a small slice of the 2026 annual base rates (before locality) drawn from the official tables.

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Grade</th>
      <th>Step 1</th>
      <th>Step 5</th>
      <th>Step 10</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>GS-5</td>
      <td>$32,993</td>
      <td>$37,389</td>
      <td>$42,884</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>GS-9</td>
      <td>$50,056</td>
      <td>$56,732</td>
      <td>$65,077</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>GS-12</td>
      <td>$72,509</td>
      <td>$82,177</td>
      <td>$94,262</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>GS-14</td>
      <td>$101,967</td>
      <td>$115,563</td>
      <td>$132,558</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

(Values above are base pay only and do not include locality; check the full OPM tables for all grades, steps, and special notes.)

Trend and Context for 2026

  • The 1% raise makes 2026 one of the leaner adjustment years compared with recent raises that were higher, reflecting tighter federal budget priorities.
  • Freezing locality percentages at 2025 levels means employees in highā€‘cost areas do not see extra locality relief beyond the base 1% bump, which has been a discussion point in federal workforce news and forums.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.