The General Schedule, or GS pay scale, has 15 grades and 10 steps within each grade. If you are asking what the GS pay scale is, start with the offer’s grade and step, then identify the applicable locality or special rate. The nationwide base table alone usually does not tell you the offered annual salary.

A federal announcement can display a salary range before you know your own starting rate. Work backward from the written offer: pay plan, grade, step, official worksite, applicable schedule, and annual salary. That sequence lets you compare the number you found online with the number human resources actually used.

What is the GS pay scale, and which announcement fields matter?

The GS scale organizes pay by grade and step, with applicable location-based adjustments and exceptions. Start by confirming that the announcement actually uses GS. Then compare the pay scale and grade, salary, work locations, qualifications, and promotion information before treating the listed range as your likely offer.

OPM’s federal pay explanation identifies GS as one of several federal pay systems. That distinction matters when comparing government contract jobs with federal jobs: a contractor working alongside federal staff does not receive a GS rate merely because the work supports the same agency.

Save the announcement before it closes. If the opening covers multiple grades or locations, ask the hiring office to identify the combination represented by your tentative offer, the work schedule being offered, and the date the rate would take effect, so you can compare that specific offer with the correct published table. Keep the answer with your application records.

Keep promotion potential separate from the offered grade. Ask what future advancement requires and when it may be considered; build your immediate budget around the starting rate that has actually been approved. A possible later promotion is not current compensation.

What does the grade tell you about the position?

Grade reflects the level of work, including difficulty, responsibility, and required qualifications. It does not independently identify the dollar amount you will receive. For an offer at a particular grade, you still need the step, applicable pay schedule, and effective date.

Read the duties together with the qualifications. When you compare openings with similar titles, identify the decisions the employee makes, the complexity of the work, and the experience or education the announcement requires, then use concrete examples from your own background to show why you qualify for the grade at which you want consideration. Let the agency assess that evidence.

For transitioning service members, resist choosing a grade by translating military rank directly into a civilian title. Prepare evidence of the work you have done: scope of responsibility, complexity of problems, decisions made, and results. Have the hiring agency assess that evidence under the vacancy’s qualification requirements.

The same approach helps cleared candidates. Holding a clearance does not identify the grade of an analyst, technician, administrator, or manager position. Ask how the actual assignment is classified and whether your experience qualifies you at the grade being filled.

What does the step add to the grade?

The step identifies a pay point within the grade. OPM describes step 1 as the starting salary and step 10 as the maximum within a grade. A new federal employee will generally start at the minimum unless an applicable pay-setting authority supports a different rate.

Keep a starting-step decision separate from future step increases. Your immediate question is which rate applies on entry and what authority supports it. Ask human resources to explain any proposed above-minimum rate before you make financial commitments based on it.

OPM’s superior qualifications and special needs pay-setting guidance allows an agency to approve a higher starting step under its conditions and policy. Approval must occur before entry on duty; that determination cannot be made retroactively. It is a discretionary authority, not a candidate entitlement.

Under that authority, the agency may not use your existing or prior nonfederal salary, or a competing offer’s salary, to determine the rate. If you seek consideration, focus your request on qualifications relevant to the position and the agency’s stated process. Returning federal employees should ask which pay-setting rules apply to their particular appointment rather than assuming new-hire treatment.

Which number comes from the base table?

The base table supplies the common GS rate at each grade and step before locality payments or special-rate supplements. Use it to understand the calculation. For a standard locality-covered position, use the appropriate locality table to identify the resulting annual rate.

For example, OPM’s 2026 base schedule, effective January 2026, lists $63,795 for GS-11, step 1. That is the nationwide base figure for that cell. It is not the Rest of U.S. locality-adjusted salary for the same grade and step.

Check the table heading first. Before copying a salary into your comparison, confirm the effective year, whether the figures are annual or hourly, and whether the heading identifies a locality area, then match the offer’s grade and step to that schedule so you can explain why the number applies to this particular appointment. Save the table with the offer.

How does locality change the annual salary?

OPM determines a locality rate by increasing the scheduled annual rate by the locality percentage for the employee’s official worksite. A published locality table already performs that adjustment. Read the grade-and-step cell on that table without adding the percentage again.

OPM’s locality-rate fact sheet explains both the calculation and how the greatest applicable pay rate is selected. The official worksite matters. Your preferred city, commuting route, or mailing address does not by itself establish the locality schedule.

In the standard example, the 2026 Rest of U.S. table uses a 17.06% locality payment. Its annual rate for GS-11, step 1 is $74,678. This is the published salary after locality has been incorporated, before deductions and excluding any additional compensation.

Be precise with the word base. The nationwide GS base table excludes locality, while a locality rate counts as basic pay for purposes OPM specifies, including retirement deductions and benefits. When someone says an offer has a particular base salary, ask whether they mean the nationwide table rate or the payable locality-adjusted annual rate.

When might a special rate or another pay system apply?

A standard GS locality table may not determine the payable rate if an applicable special or retained rate is higher. Some jobs use other pay systems altogether. Ask human resources which schedule governs the position and why, especially when the written offer differs from the table you expected.

OPM’s locality guidance compares the scheduled annual, locality, special, and retained rates as applicable. It does not direct you to stack the full locality payment onto an already supplemented special rate. Ask for the applicable table identifier and effective date so you can verify the comparison.

Another pay plan needs its own rules. OPM identifies the Federal Wage System for hourly trade and labor jobs, for example. When reviewing civilian jobs on military bases, confirm the pay plan instead of assuming every federal opening on the installation follows GS.

Also separate recurring annual salary from any incentive or premium pay discussed during recruiting. Ask whether an additional payment is approved, when it is paid, and which conditions apply. Evaluate the dependable salary and any conditional payment on their own terms.

How do you trace a hypothetical offer to annual pay?

Match the offered grade and step to the applicable table for the documented official worksite and effective date. The following example assumes a full-time standard GS position in the Rest of U.S. area, with no higher special or retained rate and no additional pay.

The applicant’s next step is confirmation, not another percentage calculation. Ask human resources to verify that the example’s assumptions match the offer: actual duty location, work schedule, effective date, starting step, and rate coverage. If any assumption changes, return to the applicable schedule.

When comparing GS and contractor compensation, use the payable federal annual rate rather than the nationwide base rate. Then compare benefits, work requirements, and conditional payments separately. An employer’s billing rate is not the candidate’s salary.

What should you verify before accepting?

Resolve the pay plan, grade, step, worksite, schedule, annual rate, and effective date in writing. Then examine deductions and benefit elections to estimate your own take-home pay. A table rate cannot predict your bank deposit.

MyMoney.gov’s paycheck guidance distinguishes earnings from income after taxes and deductions. Ask the employing agency for payroll and benefits information relevant to your appointment. Keep that review separate from verifying that the annual salary itself was set correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the advertised maximum mean I can start there?

No. Confirm the grade and step actually offered and the authority for any above-minimum setting. A listed range does not establish an approved starting rate for your appointment.

Should I add locality to a locality-table salary?

No. A locality table already includes that payment. In the hypothetical Rest of U.S. example, $74,678 already includes locality; applying the percentage again would overstate the annual rate.

Does a security clearance determine my GS grade?

A clearance requirement does not identify the position’s grade or your starting step. Review the duties, qualifications, pay plan, and written offer with the hiring agency.

What should I request if the offer and online table disagree?

Ask human resources for the exact pay schedule, grade, step, official worksite, and effective date used to set the offer. Have the office reconcile the annual salary against that schedule before you accept.