The General Schedule (GS) is the predominant pay scale for federal employees, organizing positions into 15 grades (GS-1 to GS-15) based on the level of difficulty, responsibility, and qualifications required. This tool focuses exclusively on the GS system to provide accurate base salary forecasting.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) applies "Locality Pay" to adjust base salaries based on the local cost of labor in specific geographic areas. High-cost areas like Seattle, Washington, or San Francisco receive higher percentage adjustments to remain competitive with the private sector.

Because the cost of living fluctuates drastically between regions, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sets specific locality pay adjustments based on your geographic duty station. These adjustments are calculated as a percentage increase that is applied on top of your base General Schedule pay.

Yes. Certain highly technical or hard-to-fill occupations (like specific IT, engineering, or medical roles) may qualify for OPM Special Salary Rates. These rates override the standard locality pay if the special rate is higher.

Overtime rules shift as you climb the GS ladder. For higher grades, such as a GS-13, overtime is generally capped under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In many cases, this means high-grade employees are paid their standard "straight time" hourly rate for overtime hours, rather than traditional time-and-a-half.

Within each of the 15 GS grades are 10 "steps." Employees move up these steps automatically based on time-in-service and acceptable performance, which increases base pay. Additionally, the President typically authorizes an annual pay adjustment—often referred to colloquially as a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)—each January. Performance awards and bonuses are handled separately by individual agencies.

While there are other federal pay systems—such as the Federal Wage System (FWS) for blue-collar jobs or the Senior Executive Service (SES)—this calculator is strictly designed for the General Schedule to ensure the most accurate locality and step comparison data.

Within-Grade Increases (WGIs) are tied to time-in-service. Moving from Steps 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 4 takes one year each. Moving from Steps 4 to 7 takes two years per step. Moving from Steps 7 to 10 takes three years per step. Assuming acceptable performance, it takes 18 years to move from Step 1 to Step 10 within the same grade.

When you are promoted to a higher GS grade, OPM rules guarantee that your new salary will be set at a rate that exceeds your current base pay by at least the value of two step increases at your old grade.

Yes. Your standard Locality Pay is considered part of your "basic pay." This means it counts toward your High-3 average salary for calculating your Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) pension, and it is the figure used when calculating your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) contributions and agency match. (Overtime and bonuses, however, do not count).

Yes. Under federal law, the maximum payable rate for any GS employee (Base Pay + Locality Pay) is legally capped at the rate for Level IV of the Executive Schedule (EX-IV). If your calculated locality adjustment pushes your salary above this cap, your pay is simply flattened at the EX-IV limit.

Your Locality Pay is determined by your official duty station, not necessarily where your house is located. If you transfer to a new role in a different geographic area, your "Base Pay" remains exactly the same, but your Locality Pay automatically shifts to match your new duty station's specific OPM rate.