How much does a GS-5 make in 2026?

A GS-5 earns $34,799 to $45,239 in base pay (steps 1–10). With locality pay the range is $40,736 (step 1, Rest of U.S.) to $66,203 (step 10, San Francisco Bay Area).

What is the GS-5 hourly rate?

GS-5 step 1 base is $16.67/hour; step 10 is $21.68/hour (annual ÷ 2,087). Locality pay raises these proportionally.

What is the GS-5 step increase?

Each within-grade increase (WGI) at GS-5 adds $1,160 to base pay. Steps 1–4 come every year, 5–7 every two years, 8–10 every three years.

GS-5 Pay Scale 2026

Base pay $34,799 – $45,239; with locality pay $40,736 – $66,203. Common entry grade for bachelor's degree holders (e.g., Pathways interns).

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

Step 1 base

$34,799

$16.67/hr

Step 10 base

$45,239

$21.68/hr

Within-grade increase

$1,160

per step

Highest locality (step 10)

$66,203

San Francisco Bay Area · 46.34%

GS-5 base steps

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
34,799	35,959	37,119	38,279	39,439	40,599	41,759	42,919	44,079	45,239
$16.67/hr	$17.23/hr	$17.79/hr	$18.34/hr	$18.90/hr	$19.45/hr	$20.01/hr	$20.56/hr	$21.12/hr	$21.68/hr

GS-5 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	50,925	52,622	54,320	56,017	57,715	59,413	61,110	62,808	64,505	66,203
New York	37.95	48,005	49,605	51,206	52,806	54,406	56,006	57,607	59,207	60,807	62,407
Los Angeles	36.47	47,490	49,073	50,656	52,239	53,822	55,405	56,989	58,572	60,155	61,738
Houston	35.00	46,979	48,545	50,111	51,677	53,243	54,809	56,375	57,941	59,507	61,073
Washington DC	33.94	46,610	48,163	49,717	51,271	52,825	54,378	55,932	57,486	59,039	60,593
San Diego	33.72	46,533	48,084	49,636	51,187	52,738	54,289	55,840	57,391	58,942	60,494
Boston	32.58	46,137	47,674	49,212	50,750	52,288	53,826	55,364	56,902	58,440	59,978
Alaska	32.36	46,060	47,595	49,131	50,666	52,201	53,737	55,272	56,808	58,343	59,878
Hartford	32.08	45,963	47,495	49,027	50,559	52,091	53,623	55,155	56,687	58,220	59,752
Seattle	31.57	45,785	47,311	48,837	50,364	51,890	53,416	54,942	56,469	57,995	59,521
Chicago	30.86	45,538	47,056	48,574	50,092	51,610	53,128	54,646	56,164	57,682	59,200
Denver	30.52	45,420	46,934	48,448	49,962	51,476	52,990	54,504	56,018	57,532	59,046
Sacramento	29.76	45,155	46,660	48,166	49,671	51,176	52,681	54,186	55,692	57,197	58,702
Detroit	29.12	44,932	46,430	47,928	49,426	50,924	52,421	53,919	55,417	56,915	58,413
Philadelphia	28.99	44,887	46,384	47,880	49,376	50,872	52,369	53,865	55,361	56,858	58,354
Minneapolis	27.62	44,410	45,891	47,371	48,852	50,332	51,812	53,293	54,773	56,254	57,734
Dallas-Fort Worth	27.26	44,285	45,761	47,238	48,714	50,190	51,666	53,143	54,619	56,095	57,571
Portland	26.13	43,892	45,355	46,818	48,281	49,744	51,208	52,671	54,134	55,597	57,060
Miami	24.67	43,384	44,830	46,276	47,722	49,169	50,615	52,061	53,507	54,953	56,399
Atlanta	23.79	43,078	44,514	45,950	47,386	48,822	50,258	51,693	53,129	54,565	56,001
Phoenix	22.45	42,611	44,032	45,452	46,873	48,293	49,713	51,134	52,554	53,975	55,395
Milwaukee	22.42	42,601	44,021	45,441	46,861	48,281	49,701	51,121	52,541	53,962	55,382
Buffalo	22.41	42,597	44,017	45,437	46,857	48,277	49,697	51,117	52,537	53,957	55,377
Richmond	22.28	42,552	43,971	45,389	46,808	48,226	49,644	51,063	52,481	53,900	55,318
Raleigh	22.24	42,538	43,956	45,374	46,792	48,210	49,628	51,046	52,464	53,882	55,300
Cleveland	22.23	42,535	43,953	45,371	46,788	48,206	49,624	51,042	52,460	53,878	55,296
Hawaii	22.21	42,528	43,945	45,363	46,781	48,198	49,616	51,034	52,451	53,869	55,287
Columbus	22.15	42,507	43,924	45,341	46,758	48,175	49,592	51,009	52,426	53,842	55,259
Cincinnati	21.93	42,430	43,845	45,259	46,674	48,088	49,502	50,917	52,331	53,746	55,160
Huntsville	21.91	42,423	43,838	45,252	46,666	48,080	49,494	50,908	52,323	53,737	55,151
Laredo	21.59	42,312	43,723	45,133	46,543	47,954	49,364	50,775	52,185	53,596	55,006
Dayton	21.42	42,253	43,661	45,070	46,478	47,887	49,295	50,704	52,112	53,521	54,929
Pittsburgh	21.03	42,117	43,521	44,925	46,329	47,733	49,137	50,541	51,945	53,349	54,753
Albany	20.77	42,027	43,428	44,829	46,230	47,630	49,031	50,432	51,833	53,234	54,635
Austin	20.35	41,881	43,277	44,673	46,069	47,465	48,861	50,257	51,653	53,049	54,445
Colorado Springs	20.15	41,811	43,205	44,598	45,992	47,386	48,780	50,173	51,567	52,961	54,355
St. Louis	20.03	41,769	43,162	44,554	45,946	47,339	48,731	50,123	51,516	52,908	54,300
Charlotte	19.67	41,644	43,032	44,420	45,808	47,197	48,585	49,973	51,361	52,749	54,138
Las Vegas	19.57	41,609	42,996	44,383	45,770	47,157	48,544	49,931	51,318	52,705	54,092
Burlington	19.45	41,567	42,953	44,339	45,724	47,110	48,496	49,881	51,267	52,652	54,038
Harrisburg	19.43	41,560	42,946	44,331	45,717	47,102	48,487	49,873	51,258	52,644	54,029
Tucson	19.28	41,508	42,892	44,276	45,659	47,043	48,426	49,810	51,194	52,577	53,961
Kansas City	18.97	41,400	42,780	44,160	45,541	46,921	48,301	49,681	51,061	52,441	53,821
Davenport	18.93	41,386	42,766	44,146	45,525	46,905	48,284	49,664	51,044	52,423	53,803
Virginia Beach	18.80	41,341	42,719	44,097	45,475	46,854	48,232	49,610	50,988	52,366	53,744
San Antonio	18.78	41,334	42,712	44,090	45,468	46,846	48,223	49,601	50,979	52,357	53,735
Albuquerque	18.33	41,178	42,550	43,923	45,296	46,668	48,041	49,413	50,786	52,159	53,531
Birmingham	18.24	41,146	42,518	43,890	45,261	46,633	48,004	49,376	50,747	52,119	53,491
Omaha	18.23	41,143	42,514	43,886	45,257	46,629	48,000	49,372	50,743	52,115	53,486
Indianapolis	18.15	41,115	42,486	43,856	45,227	46,597	47,968	49,338	50,709	52,079	53,450
Des Moines	18.01	41,066	42,435	43,804	45,173	46,542	47,911	49,280	50,649	52,018	53,387
Palm Bay	17.93	41,038	42,406	43,774	45,142	46,510	47,878	49,246	50,614	51,982	53,350
Rochester	17.88	41,021	42,388	43,756	45,123	46,491	47,858	49,226	50,593	51,960	53,328
Spokane	17.67	40,948	42,313	43,678	45,043	46,408	47,773	49,138	50,503	51,868	53,233
Fresno	17.65	40,941	42,306	43,671	45,035	46,400	47,765	49,129	50,494	51,859	53,224
Corpus Christi	17.63	40,934	42,299	43,663	45,028	46,392	47,757	49,121	50,486	51,850	53,215
Reno	17.52	40,896	42,259	43,622	44,985	46,349	47,712	49,075	50,438	51,802	53,165
Rest of U.S.	17.06	40,736	42,094	43,452	44,809	46,167	47,525	48,883	50,241	51,599	52,957

← GS-4 All grades GS-6 →

How GS-5 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.