An ICE agent’s salary in 2026 runs from about $77,000 for a new hire in a lower-cost area to more than $200,000 for a senior agent in an expensive metro. That wide range exists because federal pay for criminal investigators stacks three layers: a General Schedule base, a geographic locality adjustment, and a mandatory 25% law enforcement availability premium. The published base number on a job posting is only the starting point.
The Three Layers That Build Your Paycheck
Every ICE agent’s pay starts with the General Schedule, the federal government’s standardized system of 15 grades, each with 10 steps worth roughly 3% apiece.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. General Schedule Overview For 2026, the base figures most relevant to ICE criminal investigators (GS-1811 series) look like this:2OPM. Salary Table 2026-GS
- GS-7 Step 1: $43,106
- GS-9 Step 1: $52,727
- GS-11 Step 1: $63,795
- GS-12 Step 1: $76,463 (Step 10: $99,404)
- GS-13 Step 1: $90,925 (Step 10: $118,204)
No ICE agent actually earns just the base rate. The second layer, locality pay, adjusts salaries upward based on where you work so federal wages stay competitive with the local private sector. The percentages for 2026 vary sharply:3OPM. Salary Table 2026-RUS
- Rest of U.S. (the catchall for areas without their own rate): 17.06%
- Washington-Baltimore-Arlington: 33.94%
- San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland: 46.34%
The third layer, Law Enforcement Availability Pay, is the biggest single booster. Federal law requires a 25% premium on top of the locality-adjusted base for criminal investigators who stay available for unscheduled duty beyond the regular workweek.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5545a – Availability Pay for Criminal Investigators To keep receiving LEAP, an agent must average at least two hours of unscheduled duty per regular workday over the year.5eCFR. 5 CFR Part 550 Subpart A – Law Enforcement Availability Pay Most agents clear that bar easily. LEAP isn’t optional and isn’t negotiated; if you hold a 1811 position and meet the availability standard, you get it.
Because LEAP is calculated on the locality-adjusted salary, the three layers compound. A dollar of locality pay pulls a quarter of LEAP behind it.
What ICE Agents Actually Earn in 2026
Stacked together, the layers produce very different totals depending on grade and duty station.
New agent, GS-9 Step 1, Rest of U.S. location:
- Base: $52,727
- Locality (17.06%): +$8,995
- Adjusted base: $61,722
- LEAP (25%): +$15,431
- Total: about $77,150
Journeyman agent, GS-12 Step 1, Washington, D.C.:
- Base: $76,463
- Locality (33.94%): +$25,952
- Adjusted base: $102,415
- LEAP (25%): +$25,604
- Total: about $128,000
Senior agent, GS-13 Step 10, San Francisco:
- Base: $118,204
- Locality (46.34%): +$54,776
- Adjusted base: $172,980
- LEAP (25%): +$43,245
- Total: about $216,200
Location drives pay as forcefully as rank does. A GS-12 in San Francisco out-earns a GS-12 in a low-locality area by more than $25,000 with the same job title and step.
How Pay Grows Over a Career
Two things move your salary up: automatic step increases inside your grade, and competitive promotions to higher grades. Step increases are guaranteed with acceptable performance but slow. Waiting periods run one year at Steps 1 through 3, two years at Steps 4 through 6, and three years at Steps 7 through 9, so climbing from Step 1 to Step 10 in a single grade takes roughly 18 years.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. General Schedule Overview
Grade promotions produce the bigger jumps. The full performance level for ICE criminal investigators is generally GS-12, so agents on the standard career ladder move through the lower grades relatively quickly. You must complete at least 52 weeks at the grade below before moving up.6eCFR. 5 CFR 300.604 – Restrictions An agent entering at GS-7 can realistically reach GS-12 in four to five years if performance supports it. Beyond GS-12, advancement is competitive. GS-13 and above usually mean applying for supervisory, managerial, or specialized roles, and GS-14 and GS-15 positions are limited, generally reserved for senior leadership in Homeland Security Investigations or Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Retirement Adds Substantial Value
The retirement package is one of the more valuable parts of an ICE agent’s total compensation, and it’s easy to overlook when only the annual salary is on the table. As law enforcement officers, ICE agents fall under special FERS provisions that allow earlier retirement with a higher pension multiplier.
Standard federal employees earn 1% of their high-three average salary per year of service. Law enforcement officers earn 1.7% per year for the first 20 years and 1% for each year after that.7U.S. Office of Personnel Management. FERS Computation An agent retiring after 25 years with a high-three average of $140,000 would draw roughly $54,600 a year, versus about $35,000 under the standard formula. Over a 25-year retirement, that gap runs past $400,000.
Law enforcement officers can retire at age 50 with 20 years of service, or at any age with 25 years.8GovInfo. 5 USC Part III Subpart G Chapter 83 The trade-off is mandatory separation from federal law enforcement by the end of the month you turn 57, or when you complete 20 years of law enforcement service if you’re already past that age. Agency heads can grant extensions to age 60 when the public interest requires it.
The Thrift Savings Plan adds a third leg to FERS retirement, alongside the pension and Social Security.9U.S. Office of Personnel Management. FERS Information Your agency automatically contributes 1% of basic pay whether you contribute or not. If you contribute yourself, the agency matches the first 3% dollar for dollar and the next 2% at 50 cents on the dollar, for a maximum government contribution of 5%.10Office of Personnel Management. Federal Employees Retirement System – An Overview of Your Benefits Contributing less than 5% of your own pay leaves match money unclaimed. For 2026, elective deferrals cap at $24,500, with an additional $8,000 catch-up for agents 50 and older and an enhanced $11,250 catch-up for those aged 60 to 63.11Thrift Savings Plan. Contribution Limits
Other Premiums and Benefits
LEAP dominates, but it isn’t the only premium. Night work between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. earns a 10% differential on the hourly rate of basic pay. Sunday shifts carry a 25% premium for each hour worked, and holiday work qualifies for premium rates as well.12eCFR. 5 CFR Part 550 Subpart A – Premium Pay These differentials stack on top of LEAP when they apply. Federal law does cap total premium pay so it can’t exceed the biweekly rate for a GS-15 Step 10 (including locality) in a given pay period.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5547 – Limitation on Premium Pay The cap rarely binds below GS-13.
ICE agents receive the standard federal benefits package: access to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program with dozens of plan options and a substantial government share of premiums, and Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance. Eligible agents get up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for a qualifying birth or placement.14U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Paid Parental Leave Annual leave starts at 13 days per year and climbs to 26 days after 15 years of federal service.
For harder-to-fill positions, ICE can offer recruitment incentives of up to 25% of annual basic pay, with the possibility of going as high as 50% when the agency documents a critical need.15U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet – Recruitment Incentives A student loan repayment program can pay up to $10,000 per year on qualifying federal loans, capped at $60,000 per employee over a career.16ICE.gov. ICE Directive 1014.2 – Student Loan Repayment Program Neither is guaranteed for every position, but both show up regularly in ICE hiring announcements.