The federal GS step and grade pay scale sorts every covered civilian job into one of 15 grades (GS-1 through GS-15) and one of 10 steps within that grade, producing 150 base pay rates that in 2026 run from $22,584 at GS-1 Step 1 to $164,301 at GS-15 Step 10 before locality pay is added.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Salary Table 2026-GS Your grade reflects the difficulty and responsibility of the position; your step reflects how long you have been performing it acceptably. Climbing from Step 1 to Step 10 within a single grade takes 18 years of creditable service and consistently acceptable performance.
What Grade and Step Mean
Agencies classify every GS position into a grade based on the difficulty, responsibility, and qualifications the work demands.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. General Schedule Overview GS-1 through GS-4 typically cover entry-level and clerical work with limited specialized training. GS-5 through GS-12 cover professional, technical, and supervisory jobs of increasing complexity. GS-13 through GS-15 are reserved for senior specialists, high-level managers, and expert roles. The whole framework sits in Title 5 of the U.S. Code, Chapter 53.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5332 – The General Schedule
Within any single grade, each step is roughly 3 percent more than the step below it. So the dollar value of a step is small at GS-2 and substantial at GS-14, even though the percentage stays the same.
The 2026 Base Table and Its Ceiling
Base rates are adjusted every January by executive order. For 2026, the across-the-board increase is 1.0 percent, effective the first pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and it applies uniformly across all 15 grades and 10 steps.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. January 2026 Pay Adjustments A GS-5 Step 1 employee earns a base rate just under $33,000 before locality pay; a GS-13 Step 1 starts well above $85,000 on the base table.
Total GS pay is capped at the rate for Executive Schedule Level V, which in 2026 is $184,900.5U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Salary Table 2026-EX The cap mainly affects GS-15 employees in high-cost locality areas, where base plus locality would otherwise push the total higher. When that happens, the employee is paid at the cap.
How Your Starting Grade and Step Get Set
The grade you enter at depends on your education and experience against OPM’s qualification standards. For clerical and support work, a high school diploma typically qualifies you for GS-2, and one year of education beyond high school for GS-3. For professional and administrative work, a bachelor’s degree generally qualifies you for GS-5, a year of graduate study for GS-7, and a master’s for GS-9.6U.S. Office of Personnel Management. General Schedule Qualification Standards
Relevant professional experience can substitute for education at every level. The test is whether your prior work matches the difficulty and complexity of the next lower grade. Three years of progressively responsible experience, including one year equivalent to GS-4, meets the requirement for GS-5 even without a degree.
Coming In Above Step 1
Most new hires start at Step 1, but agencies can place a candidate at a higher step using superior qualifications authority. It applies when a candidate’s skills, education, or accomplishments significantly exceed the position’s minimum requirements, or when the candidate fills a critical agency need.7eCFR. 5 CFR 531.212 – Superior Qualifications and Special Needs Pay-Setting Authority
Agencies weigh how the candidate compares to current employees in similar roles, the gap between federal and private-sector pay for the work, and local labor-market conditions. They cannot consider your prior salary or salary history in setting the step, and they must first look at whether a recruitment incentive would be more appropriate. The approval must be in writing, signed by an official at least one level above the hiring supervisor, and completed before the start date.
Moving Up in Step: Within-Grade Increases
Once you’re placed, your pay advances through periodic within-grade increases (WIGIs). The waiting periods lengthen as you climb:
- Steps 1 through 4: 52 weeks between each step
- Steps 4 through 7: 104 weeks between each step
- Steps 7 through 10: 156 weeks between each step
That totals 18 years of creditable service from Step 1 to Step 10 within one grade.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5335 – Periodic Step-Increases
Performance Has to Support It
Step increases aren’t automatic. Your most recent performance rating must be at least Level 3, which most agencies call “Fully Successful,” for the increase to go through.9eCFR. 5 CFR 531.404 – Acceptable Level of Competence If your rating falls short when a WIGI is due, the agency must issue a written negative determination explaining what needs to improve. You can request reconsideration inside the agency, and if the agency upholds the denial, you can appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5335 – Periodic Step-Increases
If the denial is later reversed, the new determination is treated as though it was made on the original date. You get the step increase retroactively, with back pay to the date it should have taken effect.
What Nonpay Time Does to the Clock
Time in a nonpay status counts toward your waiting period only up to a limit, and the limit depends on where you are in the step range:
- Steps 1 through 3: up to 2 workweeks of nonpay status are creditable
- Steps 4 through 6: up to 4 workweeks
- Steps 7 through 9: up to 6 workweeks
Anything beyond those limits pushes your next step increase back by the excess.10eCFR. 5 CFR Part 531 Subpart D – Within-Grade Increases Take 10 workweeks of leave without pay at Step 2, and your next increase moves back 8 weeks. This one catches a lot of employees returning from extended unpaid leave.
Quality Step Increases
Regular WIGIs reward time. Quality step increases (QSIs) reward exceptional performance. If you receive the highest summary rating your agency uses (typically Level 5, or “Outstanding”), the agency may grant you an extra step on top of the normal schedule.11eCFR. 5 CFR Part 531 Subpart E – Quality Step Increases
A QSI stacks on your regular schedule rather than replacing it. Your waiting-period clock keeps running, so you don’t lose any time toward your next scheduled WIGI. One exception: if the QSI lands you exactly on Step 4 or Step 7, the waiting period for your next regular increase resets to the longer interval (104 or 156 weeks).12U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet – Quality Step Increase You cannot receive more than one QSI in any 52-week period.
How Pay Is Set When You Get Promoted
Moving up a grade through a competitive promotion, a reassignment to a higher-graded position, or a career-ladder advancement triggers the two-step promotion rule. The principle is simple: a promotion should give you at least as much of a raise as two regular step increases in your old grade would have.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5334 – Rate on Change of Position or Type of Appointment
The math: take your current base rate at the old grade, add the value of two within-grade increases at that grade, then find the lowest step in the new grade whose rate equals or exceeds that amount. That’s your new step.14eCFR. 5 CFR 531.214 – Setting Pay Upon Promotion The rule blocks the situation where a big jump in responsibility comes with only a token pay bump.
One boundary: the two-step rule doesn’t apply if you’re moving in from the Federal Wage System, which covers blue-collar federal jobs. A separate method governs that transition.15U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Paysetting for FWS to GS Movements
Locality Pay: Why the Same Grade Pays Differently Around the Country
The GS base table is national. What you actually take home isn’t, because a locality pay percentage is added to your base rate to bring federal salaries closer to private-sector pay in your area. The percentage applies uniformly across all grades and steps within a given locality.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5304 – Locality-Based Comparability Payments
For 2026, locality percentages run from 17.06 percent in the “Rest of U.S.” area (any location not assigned to a specific locality) to more than 46 percent in the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland area.17U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Salary Table 2026-RUS A GS-12 Step 5 employee earns the same base rate in rural Kansas as in downtown San Francisco, but the locality adjustment can add tens of thousands of dollars in actual pay. Percentages are recommended annually based on Bureau of Labor Statistics survey data comparing federal and non-federal pay for similar work.18U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Annual Report of the Presidents Pay Agent for Locality Pay in 2026
What Happens If You’re Placed in a Lower Grade
Not every move goes up. If your position is downgraded through a reduction in force or a reclassification, and it wasn’t your fault, two federal protections keep you from losing pay immediately.
Grade retention lets you keep your old, higher grade for two years after being placed in the lower-graded position. After a reduction in force, you need at least 52 consecutive weeks of service at the higher grade to qualify. For reclassifications, the position must have been classified at the old grade or higher for at least one year before the downgrade.19eCFR. 5 CFR Part 536 – Grade and Pay Retention
Pay retention picks up after grade retention expires, or when the downgrade doesn’t meet grade retention’s requirements. Your pay rate is frozen at the higher level. You won’t get within-grade increases, but you won’t take a pay cut either, until the pay range of your lower-graded position catches up through annual adjustments.
Neither protection applies if you were demoted for personal cause, requested the downgrade yourself, or failed to complete a probationary period in a supervisory role. These are protections against organizational changes, not against performance or disciplinary actions.
Appealing a Classification You Think Is Wrong
If you believe your position is classified at the wrong grade or occupational series, you can file a classification appeal. Start by discussing the issue with your supervisor and HR office; that often resolves discrepancies in a position description. If it doesn’t, you file a written appeal with OPM’s Classification Appeals program.20U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Appeal Decisions
Timing is critical. If a reclassification action actually reduced your pay, you generally need to file within 15 calendar days of the effective date to be eligible for retroactive pay. The appeal has to be in writing and include your current and requested classification, a copy of your position description, and arguments referencing the applicable classification standards. A successful appeal can move you to a higher grade, with the pay difference going back to the appeal date.