How much does a GS-2 make in 2026?

A GS-2 earns $25,393 to $31,953 in base pay (steps 1–10). With locality pay the range is $29,725 (step 1, Rest of U.S.) to $46,760 (step 10, San Francisco Bay Area).

What is the GS-2 hourly rate?

GS-2 step 1 base is $12.17/hour; step 10 is $15.31/hour (annual ÷ 2,087). Locality pay raises these proportionally.

GS-2 Pay Scale 2026

Base pay $25,393 – $31,953; with locality pay $29,725 – $46,760. Clerical and support roles with a high-school diploma.

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

Step 1 base

$25,393

$12.17/hr

Step 10 base

$31,953

$15.31/hr

Within-grade increase

Varies

per step

Highest locality (step 10)

$46,760

San Francisco Bay Area · 46.34%

GS-2 base steps

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
25,393	25,997	26,839	27,550	27,858	28,677	29,496	30,315	31,134	31,953
$12.17/hr	$12.46/hr	$12.86/hr	$13.20/hr	$13.35/hr	$13.74/hr	$14.13/hr	$14.53/hr	$14.92/hr	$15.31/hr

GS-2 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	37,160	38,044	39,276	40,317	40,767	41,966	43,164	44,363	45,561	46,760
New York	37.95	35,030	35,863	37,024	38,005	38,430	39,560	40,690	41,820	42,949	44,079
Los Angeles	36.47	34,654	35,478	36,627	37,597	38,018	39,136	40,253	41,371	42,489	43,606
Houston	35.00	34,281	35,096	36,233	37,193	37,608	38,714	39,820	40,925	42,031	43,137
Washington DC	33.94	34,011	34,820	35,948	36,900	37,313	38,410	39,507	40,604	41,701	42,798
San Diego	33.72	33,956	34,763	35,889	36,840	37,252	38,347	39,442	40,537	41,632	42,728
Boston	32.58	33,666	34,467	35,583	36,526	36,934	38,020	39,106	40,192	41,277	42,363
Alaska	32.36	33,610	34,410	35,524	36,465	36,873	37,957	39,041	40,125	41,209	42,293
Hartford	32.08	33,539	34,337	35,449	36,388	36,795	37,877	38,958	40,040	41,122	42,204
Seattle	31.57	33,410	34,204	35,312	36,248	36,653	37,730	38,808	39,885	40,963	42,041
Chicago	30.86	33,229	34,020	35,122	36,052	36,455	37,527	38,598	39,670	40,742	41,814
Denver	30.52	33,143	33,931	35,030	35,958	36,360	37,429	38,498	39,567	40,636	41,705
Sacramento	29.76	32,950	33,734	34,826	35,749	36,149	37,211	38,274	39,337	40,399	41,462
Detroit	29.12	32,787	33,567	34,655	35,573	35,970	37,028	38,085	39,143	40,200	41,258
Philadelphia	28.99	32,754	33,534	34,620	35,537	35,934	36,990	38,047	39,103	40,160	41,216
Minneapolis	27.62	32,407	33,177	34,252	35,159	35,552	36,598	37,643	38,688	39,733	40,778
Dallas-Fort Worth	27.26	32,315	33,084	34,155	35,060	35,452	36,494	37,537	38,579	39,621	40,663
Portland	26.13	32,028	32,790	33,852	34,749	35,137	36,170	37,203	38,236	39,269	40,302
Miami	24.67	31,657	32,410	33,460	34,347	34,731	35,752	36,773	37,794	38,815	39,836
Atlanta	23.79	31,434	32,182	33,224	34,104	34,485	35,499	36,513	37,527	38,541	39,555
Phoenix	22.45	31,094	31,833	32,864	33,735	34,112	35,115	36,118	37,121	38,124	39,126
Milwaukee	22.42	31,086	31,826	32,856	33,727	34,104	35,106	36,109	37,112	38,114	39,117
Buffalo	22.41	31,084	31,823	32,854	33,724	34,101	35,104	36,106	37,109	38,111	39,114
Richmond	22.28	31,051	31,789	32,819	33,688	34,065	35,066	36,068	37,069	38,071	39,072
Raleigh	22.24	31,040	31,779	32,808	33,677	34,054	35,055	36,056	37,057	38,058	39,059
Cleveland	22.23	31,038	31,776	32,805	33,674	34,051	35,052	36,053	37,054	38,055	39,056
Hawaii	22.21	31,033	31,771	32,800	33,669	34,045	35,046	36,047	37,048	38,049	39,050
Columbus	22.15	31,018	31,755	32,784	33,652	34,029	35,029	36,029	37,030	38,030	39,031
Cincinnati	21.93	30,962	31,698	32,725	33,592	33,967	34,966	35,964	36,963	37,962	38,960
Huntsville	21.91	30,957	31,693	32,719	33,586	33,962	34,960	35,959	36,957	37,955	38,954
Laredo	21.59	30,875	31,610	32,634	33,498	33,873	34,868	35,864	36,860	37,856	38,852
Dayton	21.42	30,832	31,566	32,588	33,451	33,825	34,820	35,814	36,808	37,803	38,797
Pittsburgh	21.03	30,733	31,464	32,483	33,344	33,717	34,708	35,699	36,690	37,681	38,673
Albany	20.77	30,667	31,397	32,413	33,272	33,644	34,633	35,622	36,611	37,601	38,590
Austin	20.35	30,560	31,287	32,301	33,156	33,527	34,513	35,498	36,484	37,470	38,455
Colorado Springs	20.15	30,510	31,235	32,247	33,101	33,471	34,455	35,439	36,423	37,408	38,392
St. Louis	20.03	30,479	31,204	32,215	33,068	33,438	34,421	35,404	36,387	37,370	38,353
Charlotte	19.67	30,388	31,111	32,118	32,969	33,338	34,318	35,298	36,278	37,258	38,238
Las Vegas	19.57	30,362	31,085	32,091	32,942	33,310	34,289	35,268	36,248	37,227	38,206
Burlington	19.45	30,332	31,053	32,059	32,908	33,276	34,255	35,233	36,211	37,190	38,168
Harrisburg	19.43	30,327	31,048	32,054	32,903	33,271	34,249	35,227	36,205	37,183	38,161
Tucson	19.28	30,289	31,009	32,014	32,862	33,229	34,206	35,183	36,160	37,137	38,114
Kansas City	18.97	30,210	30,929	31,930	32,776	33,143	34,117	35,091	36,066	37,040	38,014
Davenport	18.93	30,200	30,918	31,920	32,765	33,132	34,106	35,080	36,054	37,028	38,002
Virginia Beach	18.80	30,167	30,884	31,885	32,729	33,095	34,068	35,041	36,014	36,987	37,960
San Antonio	18.78	30,162	30,879	31,879	32,724	33,090	34,063	35,035	36,008	36,981	37,954
Albuquerque	18.33	30,048	30,762	31,759	32,600	32,964	33,933	34,903	35,872	36,841	37,810
Birmingham	18.24	30,025	30,739	31,734	32,575	32,939	33,908	34,876	35,844	36,813	37,781
Omaha	18.23	30,022	30,736	31,732	32,572	32,937	33,905	34,873	35,841	36,810	37,778
Indianapolis	18.15	30,002	30,715	31,710	32,550	32,914	33,882	34,850	35,817	36,785	37,752
Des Moines	18.01	29,966	30,679	31,673	32,512	32,875	33,842	34,808	35,775	36,741	37,708
Palm Bay	17.93	29,946	30,658	31,651	32,490	32,853	33,819	34,785	35,750	36,716	37,682
Rochester	17.88	29,933	30,645	31,638	32,476	32,839	33,804	34,770	35,735	36,701	37,666
Spokane	17.67	29,880	30,591	31,581	32,418	32,781	33,744	34,708	35,672	36,635	37,599
Fresno	17.65	29,875	30,585	31,576	32,413	32,775	33,738	34,702	35,666	36,629	37,593
Corpus Christi	17.63	29,870	30,580	31,571	32,407	32,769	33,733	34,696	35,660	36,623	37,586
Reno	17.52	29,842	30,552	31,541	32,377	32,739	33,701	34,664	35,626	36,589	37,551
Rest of U.S.	17.06	29,725	30,432	31,418	32,250	32,611	33,569	34,528	35,487	36,445	37,404

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How GS-2 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.