How much does a GS-9 make in 2026?

A GS-9 earns $52,727 to $68,549 in base pay (steps 1–10). With locality pay the range is $61,722 (step 1, Rest of U.S.) to $100,315 (step 10, San Francisco Bay Area).

What is the GS-9 hourly rate?

GS-9 step 1 base is $25.26/hour; step 10 is $32.85/hour (annual ÷ 2,087). Locality pay raises these proportionally.

What is the GS-9 step increase?

Each within-grade increase (WGI) at GS-9 adds $1,758 to base pay. Steps 1–4 come every year, 5–7 every two years, 8–10 every three years.

GS-9 Pay Scale 2026

Base pay $52,727 – $68,549; with locality pay $61,722 – $100,315. Entry professional grade for master's degree holders; first full-performance level in many series.

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

Step 1 base

$52,727

$25.26/hr

Step 10 base

$68,549

$32.85/hr

Within-grade increase

$1,758

per step

Highest locality (step 10)

$100,315

San Francisco Bay Area · 46.34%

GS-9 base steps

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4	Step 5	Step 6	Step 7	Step 8	Step 9	Step 10
52,727	54,485	56,243	58,001	59,759	61,517	63,275	65,033	66,791	68,549
$25.26/hr	$26.11/hr	$26.95/hr	$27.79/hr	$28.63/hr	$29.48/hr	$30.32/hr	$31.16/hr	$32.00/hr	$32.85/hr

GS-9 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	77,161	79,733	82,306	84,879	87,451	90,024	92,597	95,169	97,742	100,315
New York	37.95	72,737	75,162	77,587	80,012	82,438	84,863	87,288	89,713	92,138	94,563
Los Angeles	36.47	71,957	74,356	76,755	79,154	81,553	83,952	86,351	88,751	91,150	93,549
Houston	35.00	71,181	73,555	75,928	78,301	80,675	83,048	85,421	87,795	90,168	92,541
Washington DC	33.94	70,623	72,977	75,332	77,687	80,041	82,396	84,751	87,105	89,460	91,815
San Diego	33.72	70,507	72,857	75,208	77,559	79,910	82,261	84,611	86,962	89,313	91,664
Boston	32.58	69,905	72,236	74,567	76,898	79,228	81,559	83,890	86,221	88,552	90,882
Alaska	32.36	69,789	72,116	74,443	76,770	79,097	81,424	83,751	86,078	88,405	90,731
Hartford	32.08	69,642	71,964	74,286	76,608	78,930	81,252	83,574	85,896	88,218	90,540
Seattle	31.57	69,373	71,686	73,999	76,312	78,625	80,938	83,251	85,564	87,877	90,190
Chicago	30.86	68,999	71,299	73,600	75,900	78,201	80,501	82,802	85,102	87,403	89,703
Denver	30.52	68,819	71,114	73,408	75,703	77,997	80,292	82,587	84,881	87,176	89,470
Sacramento	29.76	68,419	70,700	72,981	75,262	77,543	79,824	82,106	84,387	86,668	88,949
Detroit	29.12	68,081	70,351	72,621	74,891	77,161	79,431	81,701	83,971	86,241	88,510
Philadelphia	28.99	68,013	70,280	72,548	74,815	77,083	79,351	81,618	83,886	86,154	88,421
Minneapolis	27.62	67,290	69,534	71,777	74,021	76,264	78,508	80,752	82,995	85,239	87,482
Dallas-Fort Worth	27.26	67,100	69,338	71,575	73,812	76,049	78,287	80,524	82,761	84,998	87,235
Portland	26.13	66,505	68,722	70,939	73,157	75,374	77,591	79,809	82,026	84,243	86,461
Miami	24.67	65,735	67,926	70,118	72,310	74,502	76,693	78,885	81,077	83,268	85,460
Atlanta	23.79	65,271	67,447	69,623	71,799	73,976	76,152	78,328	80,504	82,681	84,857
Phoenix	22.45	64,564	66,717	68,870	71,022	73,175	75,328	77,480	79,633	81,786	83,938
Milwaukee	22.42	64,548	66,701	68,853	71,005	73,157	75,309	77,461	79,613	81,766	83,918
Buffalo	22.41	64,543	66,695	68,847	70,999	73,151	75,303	77,455	79,607	81,759	83,911
Richmond	22.28	64,475	66,624	68,774	70,924	73,073	75,223	77,373	79,522	81,672	83,822
Raleigh	22.24	64,453	66,602	68,751	70,900	73,049	75,198	77,347	79,496	81,645	83,794
Cleveland	22.23	64,448	66,597	68,746	70,895	73,043	75,192	77,341	79,490	81,639	83,787
Hawaii	22.21	64,438	66,586	68,735	70,883	73,031	75,180	77,328	79,477	81,625	83,774
Columbus	22.15	64,406	66,553	68,701	70,848	72,996	75,143	77,290	79,438	81,585	83,733
Cincinnati	21.93	64,290	66,434	68,577	70,721	72,864	75,008	77,151	79,295	81,438	83,582
Huntsville	21.91	64,279	66,423	68,566	70,709	72,852	74,995	77,139	79,282	81,425	83,568
Laredo	21.59	64,111	66,248	68,386	70,523	72,661	74,799	76,936	79,074	81,211	83,349
Dayton	21.42	64,021	66,156	68,290	70,425	72,559	74,694	76,829	78,963	81,098	83,232
Pittsburgh	21.03	63,815	65,943	68,071	70,199	72,326	74,454	76,582	78,709	80,837	82,965
Albany	20.77	63,678	65,802	67,925	70,048	72,171	74,294	76,417	78,540	80,663	82,787
Austin	20.35	63,457	65,573	67,688	69,804	71,920	74,036	76,151	78,267	80,383	82,499
Colorado Springs	20.15	63,351	65,464	67,576	69,688	71,800	73,913	76,025	78,137	80,249	82,362
St. Louis	20.03	63,288	65,398	67,508	69,619	71,729	73,839	75,949	78,059	80,169	82,279
Charlotte	19.67	63,098	65,202	67,306	69,410	71,514	73,617	75,721	77,825	79,929	82,033
Las Vegas	19.57	63,046	65,148	67,250	69,352	71,454	73,556	75,658	77,760	79,862	81,964
Burlington	19.45	62,982	65,082	67,182	69,282	71,382	73,482	75,582	77,682	79,782	81,882
Harrisburg	19.43	62,972	65,071	67,171	69,271	71,370	73,470	75,569	77,669	79,768	81,868
Tucson	19.28	62,893	64,990	67,087	69,184	71,281	73,377	75,474	77,571	79,668	81,765
Kansas City	18.97	62,729	64,821	66,912	69,004	71,095	73,187	75,278	77,370	79,461	81,553
Davenport	18.93	62,708	64,799	66,890	68,981	71,071	73,162	75,253	77,344	79,435	81,525
Virginia Beach	18.80	62,640	64,728	66,817	68,905	70,994	73,082	75,171	77,259	79,348	81,436
San Antonio	18.78	62,629	64,717	66,805	68,894	70,982	73,070	75,158	77,246	79,334	81,423
Albuquerque	18.33	62,392	64,472	66,552	68,633	70,713	72,793	74,873	76,954	79,034	81,114
Birmingham	18.24	62,344	64,423	66,502	68,580	70,659	72,738	74,816	76,895	78,974	81,052
Omaha	18.23	62,339	64,418	66,496	68,575	70,653	72,732	74,810	76,889	78,967	81,045
Indianapolis	18.15	62,297	64,374	66,451	68,528	70,605	72,682	74,759	76,836	78,914	80,991
Des Moines	18.01	62,223	64,298	66,372	68,447	70,522	72,596	74,671	76,745	78,820	80,895
Palm Bay	17.93	62,181	64,254	66,327	68,401	70,474	72,547	74,620	76,693	78,767	80,840
Rochester	17.88	62,155	64,227	66,299	68,372	70,444	72,516	74,589	76,661	78,733	80,806
Spokane	17.67	62,044	64,112	66,181	68,250	70,318	72,387	74,456	76,524	78,593	80,662
Fresno	17.65	62,033	64,102	66,170	68,238	70,306	72,375	74,443	76,511	78,580	80,648
Corpus Christi	17.63	62,023	64,091	66,159	68,227	70,295	72,362	74,430	76,498	78,566	80,634
Reno	17.52	61,965	64,031	66,097	68,163	70,229	72,295	74,361	76,427	78,493	80,559
Rest of U.S.	17.06	61,722	63,780	65,838	67,896	69,954	72,012	74,070	76,128	78,186	80,243

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How GS-9 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.