How much does a GS-13 make in 2026?

A GS-13 earns $90,925 to $118,204 in base pay (steps 1–10). With locality pay the range is $106,437 (step 1, Rest of U.S.) to $172,980 (step 10, San Francisco Bay Area).

What is the GS-13 hourly rate?

GS-13 step 1 base is $43.57/hour; step 10 is $56.64/hour (annual ÷ 2,087). Locality pay raises these proportionally.

What is the GS-13 step increase?

Each within-grade increase (WGI) at GS-13 adds $3,031 to base pay. Steps 1–4 come every year, 5–7 every two years, 8–10 every three years.

GS-13 Pay Scale 2026

Base pay $90,925 – $118,204; with locality pay $106,437 – $172,980. Expert specialist or first-line supervisor.

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

Step 1 base

$90,925

$43.57/hr

Step 10 base

$118,204

$56.64/hr

Within-grade increase

$3,031

per step

Highest locality (step 10)

$172,980

San Francisco Bay Area · 46.34%

GS-13 base steps

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
90,925	93,956	96,987	100,018	103,049	106,080	109,111	112,142	115,173	118,204
$43.57/hr	$45.02/hr	$46.47/hr	$47.92/hr	$49.38/hr	$50.83/hr	$52.28/hr	$53.73/hr	$55.19/hr	$56.64/hr

GS-13 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	133,060	137,495	141,931	146,366	150,802	155,237	159,673	164,109	168,544	172,980
New York	37.95	125,431	129,612	133,794	137,975	142,156	146,337	150,519	154,700	158,881	163,062
Los Angeles	36.47	124,085	128,222	132,358	136,495	140,631	144,767	148,904	153,040	157,177	161,313
Houston	35.00	122,749	126,841	130,932	135,024	139,116	143,208	147,300	151,392	155,484	159,575
Washington DC	33.94	121,785	125,845	129,904	133,964	138,024	142,084	146,143	150,203	154,263	158,322
San Diego	33.72	121,585	125,638	129,691	133,744	137,797	141,850	145,903	149,956	154,009	158,062
Boston	32.58	120,548	124,567	128,585	132,604	136,622	140,641	144,659	148,678	152,696	156,715
Alaska	32.36	120,348	124,360	128,372	132,384	136,396	140,407	144,419	148,431	152,443	156,455
Hartford	32.08	120,094	124,097	128,100	132,104	136,107	140,110	144,114	148,117	152,120	156,124
Seattle	31.57	119,630	123,618	127,606	131,594	135,582	139,569	143,557	147,545	151,533	155,521
Chicago	30.86	118,984	122,951	126,917	130,884	134,850	138,816	142,783	146,749	150,715	154,682
Denver	30.52	118,675	122,631	126,587	130,543	134,500	138,456	142,412	146,368	150,324	154,280
Sacramento	29.76	117,984	121,917	125,850	129,783	133,716	137,649	141,582	145,515	149,448	153,382
Detroit	29.12	117,402	121,316	125,230	129,143	133,057	136,970	140,884	144,798	148,711	152,625
Philadelphia	28.99	117,284	121,194	125,104	129,013	132,923	136,833	140,742	144,652	148,562	152,471
Minneapolis	27.62	116,038	119,907	123,775	127,643	131,511	135,379	139,247	143,116	146,984	150,852
Dallas-Fort Worth	27.26	115,711	119,568	123,426	127,283	131,140	134,997	138,855	142,712	146,569	150,426
Portland	26.13	114,684	118,507	122,330	126,153	129,976	133,799	137,622	141,445	145,268	149,091
Miami	24.67	113,356	117,135	120,914	124,692	128,471	132,250	136,029	139,807	143,586	147,365
Atlanta	23.79	112,556	116,308	120,060	123,812	127,564	131,316	135,069	138,821	142,573	146,325
Phoenix	22.45	111,338	115,049	118,761	122,472	126,184	129,895	133,606	137,318	141,029	144,741
Milwaukee	22.42	111,310	115,021	118,731	122,442	126,153	129,863	133,574	137,284	140,995	144,705
Buffalo	22.41	111,301	115,012	118,722	122,432	126,142	129,853	133,563	137,273	140,983	144,694
Richmond	22.28	111,183	114,889	118,596	122,302	126,008	129,715	133,421	137,127	140,834	144,540
Raleigh	22.24	111,147	114,852	118,557	122,262	125,967	129,672	133,377	137,082	140,787	144,493
Cleveland	22.23	111,138	114,842	118,547	122,252	125,957	129,662	133,366	137,071	140,776	144,481
Hawaii	22.21	111,119	114,824	118,528	122,232	125,936	129,640	133,345	137,049	140,753	144,457
Columbus	22.15	111,065	114,767	118,470	122,172	125,874	129,577	133,279	136,981	140,684	144,386
Cincinnati	21.93	110,865	114,561	118,256	121,952	125,648	129,343	133,039	136,735	140,430	144,126
Huntsville	21.91	110,847	114,542	118,237	121,932	125,627	129,322	133,017	136,712	140,407	144,102
Laredo	21.59	110,556	114,241	117,926	121,612	125,297	128,983	132,668	136,353	140,039	143,724
Dayton	21.42	110,401	114,081	117,762	121,442	125,122	128,802	132,483	136,163	139,843	143,523
Pittsburgh	21.03	110,047	113,715	117,383	121,052	124,720	128,389	132,057	135,725	139,394	143,062
Albany	20.77	109,810	113,471	117,131	120,792	124,452	128,113	131,773	135,434	139,094	142,755
Austin	20.35	109,428	113,076	116,724	120,372	124,019	127,667	131,315	134,963	138,611	142,259
Colorado Springs	20.15	109,246	112,888	116,530	120,172	123,813	127,455	131,097	134,739	138,380	142,022
St. Louis	20.03	109,137	112,775	116,413	120,052	123,690	127,328	130,966	134,604	138,242	141,880
Charlotte	19.67	108,810	112,437	116,064	119,692	123,319	126,946	130,573	134,200	137,828	141,455
Las Vegas	19.57	108,719	112,343	115,967	119,592	123,216	126,840	130,464	134,088	137,712	141,337
Burlington	19.45	108,610	112,230	115,851	119,472	123,092	126,713	130,333	133,954	137,574	141,195
Harrisburg	19.43	108,592	112,212	115,832	119,451	123,071	126,691	130,311	133,931	137,551	141,171
Tucson	19.28	108,455	112,071	115,686	119,301	122,917	126,532	130,148	133,763	137,378	140,994
Kansas City	18.97	108,173	111,779	115,385	118,991	122,597	126,203	129,809	133,415	137,021	140,627
Davenport	18.93	108,137	111,742	115,347	118,951	122,556	126,161	129,766	133,370	136,975	140,580
Virginia Beach	18.80	108,019	111,620	115,221	118,821	122,422	126,023	129,624	133,225	136,826	140,426
San Antonio	18.78	108,001	111,601	115,201	118,801	122,402	126,002	129,602	133,202	136,802	140,403
Albuquerque	18.33	107,592	111,178	114,765	118,351	121,938	125,524	129,111	132,698	136,284	139,871
Birmingham	18.24	107,510	111,094	114,677	118,261	121,845	125,429	129,013	132,597	136,181	139,764
Omaha	18.23	107,501	111,084	114,668	118,251	121,835	125,418	129,002	132,585	136,169	139,753
Indianapolis	18.15	107,428	111,009	114,590	118,171	121,752	125,334	128,915	132,496	136,077	139,658
Des Moines	18.01	107,301	110,877	114,454	118,031	121,608	125,185	128,762	132,339	135,916	139,493
Palm Bay	17.93	107,228	110,802	114,377	117,951	121,526	125,100	128,675	132,249	135,824	139,398
Rochester	17.88	107,182	110,755	114,328	117,901	121,474	125,047	128,620	132,193	135,766	139,339
Spokane	17.67	106,991	110,558	114,125	117,691	121,258	124,824	128,391	131,957	135,524	139,091
Fresno	17.65	106,973	110,539	114,105	117,671	121,237	124,803	128,369	131,935	135,501	139,067
Corpus Christi	17.63	106,955	110,520	114,086	117,651	121,217	124,782	128,347	131,913	135,478	139,043
Reno	17.52	106,855	110,417	113,979	117,541	121,103	124,665	128,227	131,789	135,351	138,913
Rest of U.S.	17.06	106,437	109,985	113,533	117,081	120,629	124,177	127,725	131,273	134,822	138,370

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How GS-13 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.