Federal job postings list a “grade” instead of a salary range the way private employers do — GS-9, GS-12, GS-13, and so on. Here’s how to translate that into an actual number.
What GS means
GS stands for General Schedule, the pay system that covers most federal civilian white-collar jobs. It runs from GS-1 (entry-level, minimal qualifications) to GS-15 (senior expert / supervisory), with Senior Executive Service (SES) positions above that band entirely.
Each grade typically corresponds to a level of responsibility and required qualifications:
- GS-5 to GS-7 — entry-level professional positions, often requiring a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
- GS-9 to GS-11 — early-career professional roles, sometimes requiring a master’s degree or specialized experience
- GS-12 to GS-13 — mid-career, often the working-level grade for specialists and analysts
- GS-14 to GS-15 — senior-level, supervisory, or highly specialized technical roles
Steps within a grade
Each GS grade has 10 “steps,” and your pay increases as you move through them — roughly 3% per step, typically on a schedule tied to time in the position (faster in early steps, slower later). A new hire usually starts at Step 1 unless prior federal service or superior qualifications justify a higher step.
Locality pay: the part people forget
The base GS pay table is not what most federal employees actually earn. On top of it, the government adds “locality pay” — an adjustment based on where the job is physically located, meant to account for regional cost-of-living differences. Locality pay can add well over 20% to base pay in high-cost metro areas, and less in lower-cost regions.
This is where remote positions get interesting: remote federal employees are generally paid based on their actual residence’s locality, not the hiring agency’s headquarters. Read the announcement’s pay section carefully — some remote postings specify which locality table applies, and it directly affects your final number.
How to estimate what a listed GS grade pays
- Note the grade (e.g., GS-12) and step range listed in the announcement.
- Look up the current-year base GS pay table (search “OPM GS pay table” for the official, current figures — we don’t reproduce it here since it changes annually and we’d rather you use the authoritative source than a number that’s gone stale on this page).
- Apply the locality pay percentage for your actual work location, or the location specified in the announcement for remote roles.
- The result is your realistic base salary range for that position.
Many announcements on this site already list the specific salary range calculated for that posting — when available, trust that number over a manual calculation, since it reflects the exact locality and step range the agency is actually hiring for.
A note on non-GS pay systems
Not every federal job uses the GS scale. Some agencies (the Postal Service, parts of Defense, certain excepted-service agencies) use their own pay systems. If a posting doesn’t list a GS grade, check its pay section directly rather than assuming GS rules apply.
The takeaway
The grade tells you the role’s level; locality pay tells you what it’s actually worth where you live. For remote positions specifically, always confirm which locality table the agency applies — it’s the single biggest factor separating the number in your head from the number on your first paycheck.