Government Pay Scale

The federal government pay scale is presented in the General Schedule (G.S) .

Designed to establish salaries for all position levels throughout all Federal agencies, the General Schedule is
divided into 15 grades, which each have 10 levels. The table however doesn't include SES (Senior Executive
Service) positions, which used to be listed as GS-16, GS-17 and GS-18.

Federal Government Pay Scale table

Grade Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10
1 16630 17185 17739 18289 18842 19167 19713 20264 20286 20798
2 18698 19142 19761 20286 20512 21115 21718 22321 22924 23527
3 20401 21081 21761 22441 23121 23801 24481 25161 25841 26521
4 22902 23665 24428 25191 25954 26717 27480 28243 29006 29769
5 25623 26477 27331 28185 29039 29893 30747 31601 32455 33309
6 28562 29514 30466 31418 32370 33322 34274 35226 36178 37130
7 31740 32798 33856 34914 35972 37030 38088 39146 40204 41262
8 35151 36323 37495 38667 39839 41011 42183 43355 44527 45699
9 38824 40118 41412 42706 44000 45294 46588 47882 49176 50470
10 42755 44180 45605 47030 48455 49880 51305 52730 54155 55580
11 46974 48540 50106 51672 53238 54804 56370 57936 59502 61068
12 56301 58178 60055 61932 63809 65686 67563 69440 71317 73194
13 66951 69183 71415 73647 75879 78111 80343 82575 84807 87039
14 79115 81752 84389 87026 89663 92300 94937 97574 100211 102848
15 93063 96165 99267 102369 105471 108573 111675 114777 117879 120981

What you should know about the Federal Government Pay scale

The qualifications required for each position are listed in the job announcements. Each job features a code
that establishes to the minimum requirements. Most government positions require a Federal resume in formats
such as OF 612, Resumix or a SES resume depending on the position level. GS levels are based on your
work experience, with usually 1 year of experience corresponding to 1 GS level, when it comes to clerical and
technician positions.

In administrative, professional, and scientific positions, GS level increase by 2 points at a time until you reach
the GS-12 level. Once you're at 12, it increases one level at a time.

GS levels by education:

l GS-1: No high school diploma

l GS-2 (GS-3 for clerk-steno positions): High school diploma
l GS-3: 1 year of full-time study after high school
l GS-4: Associate degree or 2 years of full-time study after high school
l GS-5 or GS-7: depending on agency policy and applicant's academic credentials Bachelor's degree or 4
years of education after high school
l GS-7: Bachelor's degree + 1 year
l GS-9 (or GS-11 for some research positions): Master's degree or 2 years of graduate study
l GS-9: Law degree
l GS-11 (or GS-12 for some research positions): PhD., doctorate or advanced law degree

When applying to a government position, you should be familiar with the GS levels and what they stand for.
Ensure that you are qualified for the position and that your resume is appropriately formatted for that level.

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