2026 GS Pay Table with Locality Pay likely to be unchanged. Federal pay scale freeze for general schedule federal employees likely, reports White House and OPM.
2026 Pay Raise Unlikely, General Schedule Federal Employee Pay Table Freeze and GS Locality Pay Tables
The GS (General Scale) pay table will likely be the same as the 2025 pay tables for federal employees with the White House telling agencies to anticipate a pay freeze for the upcoming calendar year. This would mean the federal employees working in a general schedule position will not see an increase in salary. It would be the first time since 2013 that the federal employee civilian raise is less than 1 percent.
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2025 GS Pay Scale Tables to Carry Over into Next Year with No Pay Adjustment Other than GS Locality Pay
The GS pay schedule shows the annual wage rates for federal employees and differs from the federal wage system. Depending on an individual’s grade and step within the pay scale, and after factoring in locality pay, members of the civilian federal workforce can determine their expected salary. The lowest of the pay grades is GS-1, step 1 and it goes to GS-15, step 10, although due to premium pay limits, many federal civilian employees at the highest wage grade have not seen a pay increase for a while due to the high cost of living in their designated locality. General Schedule employees cannot exceed the salary of a Level IV on the Executive pay system, which in 2025 equates to $195,200.
Click here to view 2025 US Military Pay Tables.
2026 White House Budget Expected to Recommend Civilian Pay Freeze for GS Pay Scale Table, Locality Pay Tables Unaffected
The White House budget plan is typically published by the end of March, but the current White House doesn’t anticipate to release their budgetary suggestions until the end of the month or even May. However, reports have come out across agencies that the president has told them to anticipate a pay freeze for all 15 grades of the GS base pay table, but employees can possible expect a GS locality pay adjustment, which happens in accordance to federal law, which was enacted to compete with private sector pay rates. In 2013, when the last pay freeze occurred, the average pay increase was still 0.5% despite there being no across-the-board raise for federal workers. During the Biden administration, the proposed pay increase in the budget ended up being the actual figure, signed into law via an executive order.
Timeline for Tracking Potential Raise in General Schedule Official Pay Tables for Federal Civilian Pay Grades
Here is the typical timeline for tracking the next year’s increase in GS pay tables:
| Time of Year | 2025 | 2026 | |
| FAIR Act Introduced | January – February | 7.4% | 4.3% |
| White House Budget | March – May | 2.0% | 0%* |
| Congress Annual Spending Bills | By September 30th | n/a | ?? |
| Alternative Pay Plan | By August 31st | 2.0% | ?? |
| Executive Order | By December 31st | 2.0% | ?? |
*assuming there is a pay freeze recommendation
Congress and President’s Role in Federal Employee Pay Schedule Increase
Although the FAIR act has been introduced in the House of Representatives every year since 2016, it has never been passed and acts more as an indicator for a potential raise. Other than a standalone bill such as the FAIR act, Senate could pass a budgetary measure to give feds an increase in pay. This happened last in 2019 although it didn’t occur until several months after the fiscal budgets was due at the end of September 2018. After a long government shutdown, Congress passed a budget that included a retroactive raise of 1.9%, overriding the push for pay freeze from the first Trump presidency. The President has an August 31st deadline to issue an “Alternative Pay Plan” to prevent a clerical calculation based off pay parity with similar jobs outside of public service jobs. Without action from the legislative branch or an executive order from the White House, there is annual pay raise for federal employees.
Special Rate Tables for Federal Law Enforcement Officers (LEO)
Federal law enforcement officers are eligible for special pay rate tables that provide higher salaries compared to the standard GS pay scale. These special rates are designed to address recruitment and retention challenges in law enforcement positions. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) maintains these special pay tables, which apply to law enforcement officers as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5541(3) and 5 CFR 550.103.
2025 Pay Scale Chart for Federal Law Enforcement
| Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | $ 32,918 | $ 33,832 | $ 34,746 | $ 35,660 | $ 36,574 | $ 37,488 | $ 38,402 | $39,316 | $40,230 | $ 4,144 |
| 4 | $ 36,957 | $ 37,984 | $ 39,011 | $ 40,038 | $ 41,065 | $ 42,092 | $ 43,119 | $44,146 | $45,173 | $46,200 |
| 5 | $ 42,490 | $ 43,638 | $ 44,786 | $ 45,934 | $ 47,082 | $ 48,230 | $ 49,378 | $50,526 | $51,674 | $52,822 |
| 6 | $ 44,807 | $ 46,087 | $ 47,367 | $ 48,647 | $ 49,927 | $ 51,207 | $ 52,487 | $53,767 | $55,047 | $56,327 |
| 7 | $ 48,371 | $ 49,794 | $ 51,217 | $ 52,640 | $ 54,063 | $ 55,486 | $ 56,909 | $58,332 | $59,755 | $61,178 |
| 8 | $ 50,417 | $ 51,993 | $ 53,569 | $ 55,145 | $ 56,721 | $ 58,297 | $ 59,873 | $61,449 | $63,025 | $64,601 |
| 9 | $ 53,945 | $ 55,685 | $ 57,425 | $ 59,165 | $ 60,905 | $ 62,645 | $ 64,385 | $66,125 | $67,865 | $69,605 |
| 10 | $ 59,405 | $ 61,321 | $ 63,237 | $ 65,153 | $ 67,069 | $ 68,985 | $ 70,901 | $72,817 | $74,733 | $76,649 |
No Increase for Federal Agency Salary and Wage Rates in 2026: Another Headache for Feds
Federal workers have grown used to receiving a higher paycheck after the first full pay period of the year, the additional pay helps their financial situation keep pace with inflation and the rising cost of healthcare. With no federal pay raise in 2026, the U.S. government’s workforce will have taken another blow from the current administration’s moves to cut federal spending. Along with early retirement buyouts and other efforts to reduce the number of federal jobs, Congress is deliberating ways in which federal retirement and health benefits can be slashed at the expense of employees.
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