How much does a GS-6 make in 2026?

A GS-6 earns $38,791 to $50,428 in base pay (steps 1–10). With locality pay the range is $45,409 (step 1, Rest of U.S.) to $73,796 (step 10, San Francisco Bay Area).

What is the GS-6 hourly rate?

GS-6 step 1 base is $18.59/hour; step 10 is $24.16/hour (annual ÷ 2,087). Locality pay raises these proportionally.

What is the GS-6 step increase?

Each within-grade increase (WGI) at GS-6 adds $1,293 to base pay. Steps 1–4 come every year, 5–7 every two years, 8–10 every three years.

GS-6 Pay Scale 2026

Base pay $38,791 – $50,428; with locality pay $45,409 – $73,796. Senior clerical / technician roles.

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

Step 1 base

$38,791

$18.59/hr

Step 10 base

$50,428

$24.16/hr

Within-grade increase

$1,293

per step

Highest locality (step 10)

$73,796

San Francisco Bay Area · 46.34%

GS-6 base steps

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
38,791	40,084	41,377	42,670	43,963	45,256	46,549	47,842	49,135	50,428
$18.59/hr	$19.21/hr	$19.83/hr	$20.45/hr	$21.07/hr	$21.68/hr	$22.30/hr	$22.92/hr	$23.54/hr	$24.16/hr

GS-6 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	56,767	58,659	60,551	62,443	64,335	66,228	68,120	70,012	71,904	73,796
New York	37.95	53,512	55,296	57,080	58,863	60,647	62,431	64,214	65,998	67,782	69,565
Los Angeles	36.47	52,938	54,703	56,467	58,232	59,996	61,761	63,525	65,290	67,055	68,819
Houston	35.00	52,368	54,113	55,859	57,605	59,350	61,096	62,841	64,587	66,332	68,078
Washington DC	33.94	51,957	53,689	55,420	57,152	58,884	60,616	62,348	64,080	65,811	67,543
San Diego	33.72	51,871	53,600	55,329	57,058	58,787	60,516	62,245	63,974	65,703	67,432
Boston	32.58	51,429	53,143	54,858	56,572	58,286	60,000	61,715	63,429	65,143	66,857
Alaska	32.36	51,344	53,055	54,767	56,478	58,189	59,901	61,612	63,324	65,035	66,747
Hartford	32.08	51,235	52,943	54,651	56,359	58,066	59,774	61,482	63,190	64,898	66,605
Seattle	31.57	51,037	52,739	54,440	56,141	57,842	59,543	61,245	62,946	64,647	66,348
Chicago	30.86	50,762	52,454	54,146	55,838	57,530	59,222	60,914	62,606	64,298	65,990
Denver	30.52	50,630	52,318	54,005	55,693	57,381	59,068	60,756	62,443	64,131	65,819
Sacramento	29.76	50,335	52,013	53,691	55,369	57,046	58,724	60,402	62,080	63,758	65,435
Detroit	29.12	50,087	51,756	53,426	55,096	56,765	58,435	60,104	61,774	63,443	65,113
Philadelphia	28.99	50,037	51,704	53,372	55,040	56,708	58,376	60,044	61,711	63,379	65,047
Minneapolis	27.62	49,505	51,155	52,805	54,455	56,106	57,756	59,406	61,056	62,706	64,356
Dallas-Fort Worth	27.26	49,365	51,011	52,656	54,302	55,947	57,593	59,238	60,884	62,529	64,175
Portland	26.13	48,927	50,558	52,189	53,820	55,451	57,081	58,712	60,343	61,974	63,605
Miami	24.67	48,361	49,973	51,585	53,197	54,809	56,421	58,033	59,645	61,257	62,869
Atlanta	23.79	48,019	49,620	51,221	52,821	54,422	56,022	57,623	59,224	60,824	62,425
Phoenix	22.45	47,500	49,083	50,666	52,249	53,833	55,416	56,999	58,583	60,166	61,749
Milwaukee	22.42	47,488	49,071	50,654	52,237	53,820	55,402	56,985	58,568	60,151	61,734
Buffalo	22.41	47,484	49,067	50,650	52,232	53,815	55,398	56,981	58,563	60,146	61,729
Richmond	22.28	47,434	49,015	50,596	52,177	53,758	55,339	56,920	58,501	60,082	61,663
Raleigh	22.24	47,418	48,999	50,579	52,160	53,740	55,321	56,901	58,482	60,063	61,643
Cleveland	22.23	47,414	48,995	50,575	52,156	53,736	55,316	56,897	58,477	60,058	61,638
Hawaii	22.21	47,406	48,987	50,567	52,147	53,727	55,307	56,888	58,468	60,048	61,628
Columbus	22.15	47,383	48,963	50,542	52,121	53,701	55,280	56,860	58,439	60,018	61,598
Cincinnati	21.93	47,298	48,874	50,451	52,028	53,604	55,181	56,757	58,334	59,910	61,487
Huntsville	21.91	47,290	48,866	50,443	52,019	53,595	55,172	56,748	58,324	59,900	61,477
Laredo	21.59	47,166	48,738	50,310	51,882	53,455	55,027	56,599	58,171	59,743	61,315
Dayton	21.42	47,100	48,670	50,240	51,810	53,380	54,950	56,520	58,090	59,660	61,230
Pittsburgh	21.03	46,949	48,514	50,079	51,644	53,208	54,773	56,338	57,903	59,468	61,033
Albany	20.77	46,848	48,409	49,971	51,533	53,094	54,656	56,217	57,779	59,340	60,902
Austin	20.35	46,685	48,241	49,797	51,353	52,909	54,466	56,022	57,578	59,134	60,690
Colorado Springs	20.15	46,607	48,161	49,714	51,268	52,822	54,375	55,929	57,482	59,036	60,589
St. Louis	20.03	46,561	48,113	49,665	51,217	52,769	54,321	55,873	57,425	58,977	60,529
Charlotte	19.67	46,421	47,969	49,516	51,063	52,611	54,158	55,705	57,253	58,800	60,347
Las Vegas	19.57	46,382	47,928	49,474	51,021	52,567	54,113	55,659	57,205	58,751	60,297
Burlington	19.45	46,336	47,880	49,425	50,969	52,514	54,058	55,603	57,147	58,692	60,236
Harrisburg	19.43	46,328	47,872	49,417	50,961	52,505	54,049	55,593	57,138	58,682	60,226
Tucson	19.28	46,270	47,812	49,354	50,897	52,439	53,981	55,524	57,066	58,608	60,151
Kansas City	18.97	46,150	47,688	49,226	50,764	52,303	53,841	55,379	56,918	58,456	59,994
Davenport	18.93	46,134	47,672	49,210	50,747	52,285	53,823	55,361	56,898	58,436	59,974
Virginia Beach	18.80	46,084	47,620	49,156	50,692	52,228	53,764	55,300	56,836	58,372	59,908
San Antonio	18.78	46,076	47,612	49,148	50,683	52,219	53,755	55,291	56,827	58,363	59,898
Albuquerque	18.33	45,901	47,431	48,961	50,491	52,021	53,551	55,081	56,611	58,141	59,671
Birmingham	18.24	45,866	47,395	48,924	50,453	51,982	53,511	55,040	56,568	58,097	59,626
Omaha	18.23	45,863	47,391	48,920	50,449	51,977	53,506	55,035	56,564	58,092	59,621
Indianapolis	18.15	45,832	47,359	48,887	50,415	51,942	53,470	54,998	56,525	58,053	59,581
Des Moines	18.01	45,777	47,303	48,829	50,355	51,881	53,407	54,932	56,458	57,984	59,510
Palm Bay	17.93	45,746	47,271	48,796	50,321	51,846	53,370	54,895	56,420	57,945	59,470
Rochester	17.88	45,727	47,251	48,775	50,299	51,824	53,348	54,872	56,396	57,920	59,445
Spokane	17.67	45,645	47,167	48,688	50,210	51,731	53,253	54,774	56,296	57,817	59,339
Fresno	17.65	45,638	47,159	48,680	50,201	51,722	53,244	54,765	56,286	57,807	59,329
Corpus Christi	17.63	45,630	47,151	48,672	50,193	51,714	53,235	54,756	56,277	57,798	59,318
Reno	17.52	45,587	47,107	48,626	50,146	51,665	53,185	54,704	56,224	57,743	59,263
Rest of U.S.	17.06	45,409	46,922	48,436	49,950	51,463	52,977	54,490	56,004	57,517	59,031

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How GS-6 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.