Government Pay System
Salaries for federal civil service jobs at most agencies are set on the General Schedule, or GS pay scale, which links required experience and level of job responsibility to a system of grades and steps within each grade. Grades start at GS-1 and go up to GS-15. Above grade 15 is the Senior Executive Service. As your grade goes up, so does your salary. A combination of three main factors determines where you are likely to fit on the GS scale:
- Education
A college graduate with a four-year degree typically starts out at the GS-5 (approximately $26,000) or GS-7 ($32,000) levels; whereas someone with a Master’s degree typically starts at a GS-9 ($39,000) or higher. - Experience
Agencies can take previous work experience into account when setting starting salaries. Plus, your salary can also rise quickly as you gain federal experience. For example, you can advance from GS-7 to GS-11 ($47,000) in two years, which is nearly a 50 percent increase in salary. - Where You Live
The federal government employs people all around the country (85 percent of all federal jobs are located outside of the Washington D.C. area) and adjusts pay in areas with higher costs of living. This is called a locality pay rate adjustment.
Starting Salaries for GS-5, GS-7 and GS-9
| City | GS-5 | GS-7 | GS-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta, GA | $29,694 | $36,783 | $44,993 |
| Chicago, IL | $31,206 | $38,656 | $47,284 |
| Dallas, TX | $30,066 | $37,244 | $45,556 |
| New York, NY | $31,919 | $39,539 | $48,363 |
| San Francisco, CA | $33,394 | $41,367 | $50,599 |
| Washington, D.C. | $30,386 | $37,640 | $46,041 |
Raises
Federal employees on the GS scale get cost-of-living adjustments every year. In addition, they receive a congressionally-approved percentage raise that varies based on geographic location. The other way to get a raise in federal service is to move up within the General Schedule. These advancements do not come automatically with the passing of time, but instead are based in part on performance.
Other Pay Systems
Not all federal employees’ salaries are based on the General Schedule system. Congress has passed laws to establish new personnel rules at the departments of Defense and Homeland Security that, when implemented, will link salaries to a to a pay-for-performance system.
In addition, the Prevailing Rate Schedule covers blue-collar employees (about 10 percent of the federal workforce) who are paid by the hour. This system is designed to make blue-collar federal jobs competitive with those in the private sector. Hourly wages are set based on the pay for similar jobs in the private sector in a particular geographic area.
Other pay systems are for Senior Executives, the U.S. Postal Service, the Foreign Service and the Veterans Health Administration.
The Best Places to Work rankings — the most comprehensive and authoritative rating of employee engagement in the federal government — are produced by the Partnership for Public Service and American University’s Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI).
