How much does a GS-7 make in 2026?

A GS-7 earns $43,106 to $56,039 in base pay (steps 1–10). With locality pay the range is $50,460 (step 1, Rest of U.S.) to $82,007 (step 10, San Francisco Bay Area).

What is the GS-7 hourly rate?

GS-7 step 1 base is $20.65/hour; step 10 is $26.85/hour (annual ÷ 2,087). Locality pay raises these proportionally.

What is the GS-7 step increase?

Each within-grade increase (WGI) at GS-7 adds $1,437 to base pay. Steps 1–4 come every year, 5–7 every two years, 8–10 every three years.

GS-7 Pay Scale 2026

Base pay $43,106 – $56,039; with locality pay $50,460 – $82,007. Entry professional grade with Superior Academic Achievement or 1 year graduate study.

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

Step 1 base

$43,106

$20.65/hr

Step 10 base

$56,039

$26.85/hr

Within-grade increase

$1,437

per step

Highest locality (step 10)

$82,007

San Francisco Bay Area · 46.34%

GS-7 base steps

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
43,106	44,543	45,980	47,417	48,854	50,291	51,728	53,165	54,602	56,039
$20.65/hr	$21.34/hr	$22.03/hr	$22.72/hr	$23.41/hr	$24.10/hr	$24.79/hr	$25.47/hr	$26.16/hr	$26.85/hr

GS-7 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	63,081	65,184	67,287	69,390	71,493	73,596	75,699	77,802	79,905	82,007
New York	37.95	59,465	61,447	63,429	65,412	67,394	69,376	71,359	73,341	75,323	77,306
Los Angeles	36.47	58,827	60,788	62,749	64,710	66,671	68,632	70,593	72,554	74,515	76,476
Houston	35.00	58,193	60,133	62,073	64,013	65,953	67,893	69,833	71,773	73,713	75,653
Washington DC	33.94	57,736	59,661	61,586	63,510	65,435	67,360	69,284	71,209	73,134	75,059
San Diego	33.72	57,641	59,563	61,484	63,406	65,328	67,249	69,171	71,092	73,014	74,935
Boston	32.58	57,150	59,055	60,960	62,865	64,771	66,676	68,581	70,486	72,391	74,297
Alaska	32.36	57,055	58,957	60,859	62,761	64,663	66,565	68,467	70,369	72,271	74,173
Hartford	32.08	56,934	58,832	60,730	62,628	64,526	66,424	68,322	70,220	72,118	74,016
Seattle	31.57	56,715	58,605	60,496	62,387	64,277	66,168	68,059	69,949	71,840	73,731
Chicago	30.86	56,409	58,289	60,169	62,050	63,930	65,811	67,691	69,572	71,452	73,333
Denver	30.52	56,262	58,138	60,013	61,889	63,764	65,640	67,515	69,391	71,267	73,142
Sacramento	29.76	55,934	57,799	59,664	61,528	63,393	65,258	67,122	68,987	70,852	72,716
Detroit	29.12	55,658	57,514	59,369	61,225	63,080	64,936	66,791	68,647	70,502	72,358
Philadelphia	28.99	55,602	57,456	59,310	61,163	63,017	64,870	66,724	68,578	70,431	72,285
Minneapolis	27.62	55,012	56,846	58,680	60,514	62,347	64,181	66,015	67,849	69,683	71,517
Dallas-Fort Worth	27.26	54,857	56,685	58,514	60,343	62,172	64,000	65,829	67,658	69,487	71,315
Portland	26.13	54,370	56,182	57,995	59,807	61,620	63,432	65,245	67,057	68,870	70,682
Miami	24.67	53,740	55,532	57,323	59,115	60,906	62,698	64,489	66,281	68,072	69,864
Atlanta	23.79	53,361	55,140	56,919	58,698	60,476	62,255	64,034	65,813	67,592	69,371
Phoenix	22.45	52,783	54,543	56,303	58,062	59,822	61,581	63,341	65,101	66,860	68,620
Milwaukee	22.42	52,770	54,530	56,289	58,048	59,807	61,566	63,325	65,085	66,844	68,603
Buffalo	22.41	52,766	54,525	56,284	58,043	59,802	61,561	63,320	65,079	66,838	68,597
Richmond	22.28	52,710	54,467	56,224	57,982	59,739	61,496	63,253	65,010	66,767	68,524
Raleigh	22.24	52,693	54,449	56,206	57,963	59,719	61,476	63,232	64,989	66,745	68,502
Cleveland	22.23	52,688	54,445	56,201	57,958	59,714	61,471	63,227	64,984	66,740	68,496
Hawaii	22.21	52,680	54,436	56,192	57,948	59,704	61,461	63,217	64,973	66,729	68,485
Columbus	22.15	52,654	54,409	56,165	57,920	59,675	61,430	63,186	64,941	66,696	68,452
Cincinnati	21.93	52,559	54,311	56,063	57,816	59,568	61,320	63,072	64,824	66,576	68,328
Huntsville	21.91	52,551	54,302	56,054	57,806	59,558	61,310	63,062	64,813	66,565	68,317
Laredo	21.59	52,413	54,160	55,907	57,654	59,402	61,149	62,896	64,643	66,391	68,138
Dayton	21.42	52,339	54,084	55,829	57,574	59,319	61,063	62,808	64,553	66,298	68,043
Pittsburgh	21.03	52,171	53,910	55,650	57,389	59,128	60,867	62,606	64,346	66,085	67,824
Albany	20.77	52,059	53,795	55,530	57,266	59,001	60,736	62,472	64,207	65,943	67,678
Austin	20.35	51,878	53,608	55,337	57,066	58,796	60,525	62,255	63,984	65,714	67,443
Colorado Springs	20.15	51,792	53,518	55,245	56,972	58,698	60,425	62,151	63,878	65,604	67,331
St. Louis	20.03	51,740	53,465	55,190	56,915	58,639	60,364	62,089	63,814	65,539	67,264
Charlotte	19.67	51,585	53,305	55,024	56,744	58,464	60,183	61,903	63,623	65,342	67,062
Las Vegas	19.57	51,542	53,260	54,978	56,697	58,415	60,133	61,851	63,569	65,288	67,006
Burlington	19.45	51,490	53,207	54,923	56,640	58,356	60,073	61,789	63,506	65,222	66,939
Harrisburg	19.43	51,481	53,198	54,914	56,630	58,346	60,063	61,779	63,495	65,211	66,927
Tucson	19.28	51,417	53,131	54,845	56,559	58,273	59,987	61,701	63,415	65,129	66,843
Kansas City	18.97	51,283	52,993	54,702	56,412	58,122	59,831	61,541	63,250	64,960	66,670
Davenport	18.93	51,266	52,975	54,684	56,393	58,102	59,811	61,520	63,229	64,938	66,647
Virginia Beach	18.80	51,210	52,917	54,624	56,331	58,039	59,746	61,453	63,160	64,867	66,574
San Antonio	18.78	51,201	52,908	54,615	56,322	58,029	59,736	61,443	63,149	64,856	66,563
Albuquerque	18.33	51,007	52,708	54,408	56,109	57,809	59,509	61,210	62,910	64,611	66,311
Birmingham	18.24	50,969	52,668	54,367	56,066	57,765	59,464	61,163	62,862	64,561	66,261
Omaha	18.23	50,964	52,663	54,362	56,061	57,760	59,459	61,158	62,857	64,556	66,255
Indianapolis	18.15	50,930	52,628	54,325	56,023	57,721	59,419	61,117	62,814	64,512	66,210
Des Moines	18.01	50,869	52,565	54,261	55,957	57,653	59,348	61,044	62,740	64,436	66,132
Palm Bay	17.93	50,835	52,530	54,224	55,919	57,614	59,308	61,003	62,697	64,392	66,087
Rochester	17.88	50,813	52,507	54,201	55,895	57,589	59,283	60,977	62,671	64,365	66,059
Spokane	17.67	50,723	52,414	54,105	55,796	57,487	59,177	60,868	62,559	64,250	65,941
Fresno	17.65	50,714	52,405	54,095	55,786	57,477	59,167	60,858	62,549	64,239	65,930
Corpus Christi	17.63	50,706	52,396	54,086	55,777	57,467	59,157	60,848	62,538	64,228	65,919
Reno	17.52	50,658	52,347	54,036	55,724	57,413	59,102	60,791	62,480	64,168	65,857
Rest of U.S.	17.06	50,460	52,142	53,824	55,506	57,188	58,871	60,553	62,235	63,917	65,599

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How GS-7 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.