How much does a GS-4 make in 2026?

A GS-4 earns $31,103 to $40,436 in base pay (steps 1–10). With locality pay the range is $36,409 (step 1, Rest of U.S.) to $59,174 (step 10, San Francisco Bay Area).

What is the GS-4 hourly rate?

GS-4 step 1 base is $14.90/hour; step 10 is $19.38/hour (annual ÷ 2,087). Locality pay raises these proportionally.

What is the GS-4 step increase?

Each within-grade increase (WGI) at GS-4 adds $1,037 to base pay. Steps 1–4 come every year, 5–7 every two years, 8–10 every three years.

GS-4 Pay Scale 2026

Base pay $31,103 – $40,436; with locality pay $36,409 – $59,174. Clerical/technician roles; typical entry with 2 years of college.

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

Step 1 base

$31,103

$14.90/hr

Step 10 base

$40,436

$19.38/hr

Within-grade increase

$1,037

per step

Highest locality (step 10)

$59,174

San Francisco Bay Area · 46.34%

GS-4 base steps

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
31,103	32,140	33,177	34,214	35,251	36,288	37,325	38,362	39,399	40,436
$14.90/hr	$15.40/hr	$15.90/hr	$16.39/hr	$16.89/hr	$17.39/hr	$17.88/hr	$18.38/hr	$18.88/hr	$19.38/hr

GS-4 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	45,516	47,034	48,551	50,069	51,586	53,104	54,621	56,139	57,656	59,174
New York	37.95	42,907	44,337	45,768	47,198	48,629	50,059	51,490	52,920	54,351	55,781
Los Angeles	36.47	42,446	43,861	45,277	46,692	48,107	49,522	50,937	52,353	53,768	55,183
Houston	35.00	41,989	43,389	44,789	46,189	47,589	48,989	50,389	51,789	53,189	54,589
Washington DC	33.94	41,659	43,048	44,437	45,826	47,215	48,604	49,993	51,382	52,771	54,160
San Diego	33.72	41,591	42,978	44,364	45,751	47,138	48,524	49,911	51,298	52,684	54,071
Boston	32.58	41,236	42,611	43,986	45,361	46,736	48,111	49,485	50,860	52,235	53,610
Alaska	32.36	41,168	42,541	43,913	45,286	46,658	48,031	49,403	50,776	52,149	53,521
Hartford	32.08	41,081	42,451	43,820	45,190	46,560	47,929	49,299	50,669	52,038	53,408
Seattle	31.57	40,922	42,287	43,651	45,015	46,380	47,744	49,109	50,473	51,837	53,202
Chicago	30.86	40,701	42,058	43,415	44,772	46,129	47,486	48,843	50,201	51,558	52,915
Denver	30.52	40,596	41,949	43,303	44,656	46,010	47,363	48,717	50,070	51,424	52,777
Sacramento	29.76	40,359	41,705	43,050	44,396	45,742	47,087	48,433	49,779	51,124	52,470
Detroit	29.12	40,160	41,499	42,838	44,177	45,516	46,855	48,194	49,533	50,872	52,211
Philadelphia	28.99	40,120	41,457	42,795	44,133	45,470	46,808	48,146	49,483	50,821	52,158
Minneapolis	27.62	39,694	41,017	42,340	43,664	44,987	46,311	47,634	48,958	50,281	51,604
Dallas-Fort Worth	27.26	39,582	40,901	42,221	43,541	44,860	46,180	47,500	48,819	50,139	51,459
Portland	26.13	39,230	40,538	41,846	43,154	44,462	45,770	47,078	48,386	49,694	51,002
Miami	24.67	38,776	40,069	41,362	42,655	43,947	45,240	46,533	47,826	49,119	50,412
Atlanta	23.79	38,502	39,786	41,070	42,354	43,637	44,921	46,205	47,488	48,772	50,056
Phoenix	22.45	38,086	39,355	40,625	41,895	43,165	44,435	45,704	46,974	48,244	49,514
Milwaukee	22.42	38,076	39,346	40,615	41,885	43,154	44,424	45,693	46,963	48,232	49,502
Buffalo	22.41	38,073	39,343	40,612	41,881	43,151	44,420	45,690	46,959	48,228	49,498
Richmond	22.28	38,033	39,301	40,569	41,837	43,105	44,373	45,641	46,909	48,177	49,445
Raleigh	22.24	38,020	39,288	40,556	41,823	43,091	44,358	45,626	46,894	48,161	49,429
Cleveland	22.23	38,017	39,285	40,552	41,820	43,087	44,355	45,622	46,890	48,157	49,425
Hawaii	22.21	38,011	39,278	40,546	41,813	43,080	44,348	45,615	46,882	48,150	49,417
Columbus	22.15	37,992	39,259	40,526	41,792	43,059	44,326	45,592	46,859	48,126	49,393
Cincinnati	21.93	37,924	39,188	40,453	41,717	42,982	44,246	45,510	46,775	48,039	49,304
Huntsville	21.91	37,918	39,182	40,446	41,710	42,974	44,239	45,503	46,767	48,031	49,296
Laredo	21.59	37,818	39,079	40,340	41,601	42,862	44,123	45,383	46,644	47,905	49,166
Dayton	21.42	37,765	39,024	40,284	41,543	42,802	44,061	45,320	46,579	47,838	49,097
Pittsburgh	21.03	37,644	38,899	40,154	41,409	42,664	43,919	45,174	46,430	47,685	48,940
Albany	20.77	37,563	38,815	40,068	41,320	42,573	43,825	45,077	46,330	47,582	48,835
Austin	20.35	37,432	38,680	39,929	41,177	42,425	43,673	44,921	46,169	47,417	48,665
Colorado Springs	20.15	37,370	38,616	39,862	41,108	42,354	43,600	44,846	46,092	47,338	48,584
St. Louis	20.03	37,333	38,578	39,822	41,067	42,312	43,556	44,801	46,046	47,291	48,535
Charlotte	19.67	37,221	38,462	39,703	40,944	42,185	43,426	44,667	45,908	47,149	48,390
Las Vegas	19.57	37,190	38,430	39,670	40,910	42,150	43,390	44,630	45,869	47,109	48,349
Burlington	19.45	37,153	38,391	39,630	40,869	42,107	43,346	44,585	45,823	47,062	48,301
Harrisburg	19.43	37,146	38,385	39,623	40,862	42,100	43,339	44,577	45,816	47,054	48,293
Tucson	19.28	37,100	38,337	39,574	40,810	42,047	43,284	44,521	45,758	46,995	48,232
Kansas City	18.97	37,003	38,237	39,471	40,704	41,938	43,172	44,406	45,639	46,873	48,107
Davenport	18.93	36,991	38,224	39,457	40,691	41,924	43,157	44,391	45,624	46,857	48,091
Virginia Beach	18.80	36,950	38,182	39,414	40,646	41,878	43,110	44,342	45,574	46,806	48,038
San Antonio	18.78	36,944	38,176	39,408	40,639	41,871	43,103	44,335	45,566	46,798	48,030
Albuquerque	18.33	36,804	38,031	39,258	40,485	41,713	42,940	44,167	45,394	46,621	47,848
Birmingham	18.24	36,776	38,002	39,228	40,455	41,681	42,907	44,133	45,359	46,585	47,812
Omaha	18.23	36,773	37,999	39,225	40,451	41,677	42,903	44,129	45,355	46,581	47,807
Indianapolis	18.15	36,748	37,973	39,199	40,424	41,649	42,874	44,099	45,325	46,550	47,775
Des Moines	18.01	36,705	37,928	39,152	40,376	41,600	42,823	44,047	45,271	46,495	47,719
Palm Bay	17.93	36,680	37,903	39,126	40,349	41,572	42,794	44,017	45,240	46,463	47,686
Rochester	17.88	36,664	37,887	39,109	40,331	41,554	42,776	43,999	45,221	46,444	47,666
Spokane	17.67	36,599	37,819	39,039	40,260	41,480	42,700	43,920	45,141	46,361	47,581
Fresno	17.65	36,593	37,813	39,033	40,253	41,473	42,693	43,913	45,133	46,353	47,573
Corpus Christi	17.63	36,586	37,806	39,026	40,246	41,466	42,686	43,905	45,125	46,345	47,565
Reno	17.52	36,552	37,771	38,990	40,208	41,427	42,646	43,864	45,083	46,302	47,520
Rest of U.S.	17.06	36,409	37,623	38,837	40,051	41,265	42,479	43,693	44,907	46,120	47,334

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How GS-4 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.