How much does a GS-11 make in 2026?

A GS-11 earns $63,795 to $82,938 in base pay (steps 1–10). With locality pay the range is $74,678 (step 1, Rest of U.S.) to $121,371 (step 10, San Francisco Bay Area).

What is the GS-11 hourly rate?

GS-11 step 1 base is $30.57/hour; step 10 is $39.74/hour (annual ÷ 2,087). Locality pay raises these proportionally.

What is the GS-11 step increase?

Each within-grade increase (WGI) at GS-11 adds $2,127 to base pay. Steps 1–4 come every year, 5–7 every two years, 8–10 every three years.

GS-11 Pay Scale 2026

Base pay $63,795 – $82,938; with locality pay $74,678 – $121,371. Journey-level professional; PhD or equivalent experience entry.

Source: OPM Salary Table 2026-GS and 2026 locality tables.

Step 1 base

$63,795

$30.57/hr

Step 10 base

$82,938

$39.74/hr

Within-grade increase

$2,127

per step

Highest locality (step 10)

$121,371

San Francisco Bay Area · 46.34%

GS-11 base steps

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
63,795	65,922	68,049	70,176	72,303	74,430	76,557	78,684	80,811	82,938
$30.57/hr	$31.59/hr	$32.61/hr	$33.63/hr	$34.64/hr	$35.66/hr	$36.68/hr	$37.70/hr	$38.72/hr	$39.74/hr

GS-11 salary by locality pay area (2026)

All 58 areas, highest locality percentage first. Values are annual, locality-adjusted.

Locality	%	S1	S2	S3	S4	S5	S6	S7	S8	S9	S10
San Francisco Bay Area	46.34	93,358	96,470	99,583	102,696	105,808	108,921	112,034	115,146	118,259	121,371
New York	37.95	88,005	90,939	93,874	96,808	99,742	102,676	105,610	108,545	111,479	114,413
Los Angeles	36.47	87,061	89,964	92,866	95,769	98,672	101,575	104,477	107,380	110,283	113,185
Houston	35.00	86,123	88,995	91,866	94,738	97,609	100,481	103,352	106,223	109,095	111,966
Washington DC	33.94	85,447	88,296	91,145	93,994	96,843	99,692	102,540	105,389	108,238	111,087
San Diego	33.72	85,307	88,151	90,995	93,839	96,684	99,528	102,372	105,216	108,060	110,905
Boston	32.58	84,579	87,399	90,219	93,039	95,859	98,679	101,499	104,319	107,139	109,959
Alaska	32.36	84,439	87,254	90,070	92,885	95,700	98,516	101,331	104,146	106,961	109,777
Hartford	32.08	84,260	87,070	89,879	92,688	95,498	98,307	101,116	103,926	106,735	109,545
Seattle	31.57	83,935	86,734	89,532	92,331	95,129	97,928	100,726	103,525	106,323	109,122
Chicago	30.86	83,482	86,266	89,049	91,832	94,616	97,399	100,182	102,966	105,749	108,533
Denver	30.52	83,265	86,041	88,818	91,594	94,370	97,146	99,922	102,698	105,475	108,251
Sacramento	29.76	82,780	85,540	88,300	91,060	93,820	96,580	99,340	102,100	104,860	107,620
Detroit	29.12	82,372	85,118	87,865	90,611	93,358	96,104	98,850	101,597	104,343	107,090
Philadelphia	28.99	82,289	85,033	87,776	90,520	93,264	96,007	98,751	101,494	104,238	106,982
Minneapolis	27.62	81,415	84,130	86,844	89,559	92,273	94,988	97,702	100,417	103,131	105,845
Dallas-Fort Worth	27.26	81,186	83,892	86,599	89,306	92,013	94,720	97,426	100,133	102,840	105,547
Portland	26.13	80,465	83,147	85,830	88,513	91,196	93,879	96,561	99,244	101,927	104,610
Miami	24.67	79,533	82,185	84,837	87,488	90,140	92,792	95,444	98,095	100,747	103,399
Atlanta	23.79	78,972	81,605	84,238	86,871	89,504	92,137	94,770	97,403	100,036	102,669
Phoenix	22.45	78,117	80,721	83,326	85,931	88,535	91,140	93,744	96,349	98,953	101,558
Milwaukee	22.42	78,098	80,702	83,306	85,909	88,513	91,117	93,721	96,325	98,929	101,533
Buffalo	22.41	78,091	80,695	83,299	85,902	88,506	91,110	93,713	96,317	98,921	101,524
Richmond	22.28	78,009	80,609	83,210	85,811	88,412	91,013	93,614	96,215	98,816	101,417
Raleigh	22.24	77,983	80,583	83,183	85,783	88,383	90,983	93,583	96,183	98,783	101,383
Cleveland	22.23	77,977	80,576	83,176	85,776	88,376	90,976	93,576	96,175	98,775	101,375
Hawaii	22.21	77,964	80,563	83,163	85,762	88,361	90,961	93,560	96,160	98,759	101,359
Columbus	22.15	77,926	80,524	83,122	85,720	88,318	90,916	93,514	96,113	98,711	101,309
Cincinnati	21.93	77,785	80,379	82,972	85,566	88,159	90,752	93,346	95,939	98,533	101,126
Huntsville	21.91	77,772	80,366	82,959	85,552	88,145	90,738	93,331	95,924	98,517	101,110
Laredo	21.59	77,568	80,155	82,741	85,327	87,913	90,499	93,086	95,672	98,258	100,844
Dayton	21.42	77,460	80,042	82,625	85,208	87,790	90,373	92,956	95,538	98,121	100,703
Pittsburgh	21.03	77,211	79,785	82,360	84,934	87,508	90,083	92,657	95,231	97,806	100,380
Albany	20.77	77,045	79,614	82,183	84,752	87,320	89,889	92,458	95,027	97,595	100,164
Austin	20.35	76,777	79,337	81,897	84,457	87,017	89,577	92,136	94,696	97,256	99,816
Colorado Springs	20.15	76,650	79,205	81,761	84,316	86,872	89,428	91,983	94,539	97,094	99,650
St. Louis	20.03	76,573	79,126	81,679	84,232	86,785	89,338	91,891	94,444	96,997	99,550
Charlotte	19.67	76,343	78,889	81,434	83,980	86,525	89,070	91,616	94,161	96,707	99,252
Las Vegas	19.57	76,280	78,823	81,366	83,909	86,453	88,996	91,539	94,082	96,626	99,169
Burlington	19.45	76,203	78,744	81,285	83,825	86,366	88,907	91,447	93,988	96,529	99,069
Harrisburg	19.43	76,190	78,731	81,271	83,811	86,351	88,892	91,432	93,972	96,513	99,053
Tucson	19.28	76,095	78,632	81,169	83,706	86,243	88,780	91,317	93,854	96,391	98,928
Kansas City	18.97	75,897	78,427	80,958	83,488	86,019	88,549	91,080	93,610	96,141	98,671
Davenport	18.93	75,871	78,401	80,931	83,460	85,990	88,520	91,049	93,579	96,109	98,638
Virginia Beach	18.80	75,788	78,315	80,842	83,369	85,896	88,423	90,950	93,477	96,003	98,530
San Antonio	18.78	75,776	78,302	80,829	83,355	85,882	88,408	90,934	93,461	95,987	98,514
Albuquerque	18.33	75,489	78,006	80,522	83,039	85,556	88,073	90,590	93,107	95,624	98,141
Birmingham	18.24	75,431	77,946	80,461	82,976	85,491	88,006	90,521	93,036	95,551	98,066
Omaha	18.23	75,425	77,940	80,454	82,969	85,484	87,999	90,513	93,028	95,543	98,058
Indianapolis	18.15	75,374	77,887	80,400	82,913	85,426	87,939	90,452	92,965	95,478	97,991
Des Moines	18.01	75,284	77,795	80,305	82,815	85,325	87,835	90,345	92,855	95,365	97,875
Palm Bay	17.93	75,233	77,742	80,250	82,759	85,267	87,775	90,284	92,792	95,300	97,809
Rochester	17.88	75,202	77,709	80,216	82,723	85,231	87,738	90,245	92,753	95,260	97,767
Spokane	17.67	75,068	77,570	80,073	82,576	85,079	87,582	90,085	92,587	95,090	97,593
Fresno	17.65	75,055	77,557	80,060	82,562	85,064	87,567	90,069	92,572	95,074	97,577
Corpus Christi	17.63	75,042	77,544	80,046	82,548	85,050	87,552	90,054	92,556	95,058	97,560
Reno	17.52	74,972	77,472	79,971	82,471	84,970	87,470	89,970	92,469	94,969	97,469
Rest of U.S.	17.06	74,678	77,168	79,658	82,148	84,638	87,128	89,618	92,107	94,597	97,087

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How GS-11 compares to private-sector pay

Federal pay is set by table; the market sets private pay. Compare against BLS occupational medians in your metro — accountant, Washington DC, data analyst, Washington DC, or any occupation.