The General Schedule (GS) is the most common pay system for federal government salaries. It is used for more than 1.5 million civilian white-collar employees worldwide in administrative, technical, professional, and clerical positions. Other types of federal government salaries are paid via the LEO scale used for law enforcement officers, whereas the Federal Wage System (FWS) is used for blue-collar employees on an hourly wage, and the Senior Level Service (SES) is used for executive and senior level employees.
In this article we explore the standards, qualifications, and structure of the pay scale for GS. Read on to learn how a salary for GS-9 and other grades can change and why, plus ways to negotiate your salary, the most common benefits for federal government employers, and more.
Pay Scale for GS
A peculiarity of federal government job listings, when compared to those of the private sector, is that on top of a detailed job description and salary range, they also include pay grades and steps. The pay scale for GS employees consists of 15 grades and each grade has ten steps. It is used for more than 400 different occupations, for which classification standards are determined by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
A job’s grade can tell a lot about the responsibility level and required qualifications as well as the federal government employee salary too. Typically, GS-2 jobs require no job experience, and GS-3, GS-4, and GS-5 require at least three months, six months, and one year of work experience respectively.
You can qualify for most clerical and assistant GS-2 positions just by showing at least three months of general work experience. With a high school diploma or GED, you can qualify for entry-level federal jobs in the GS-2 to GS-5 scales, depending on your work experience.
If you have an undergraduate degree and some job experience, you can qualify for jobs in the GS-5 to GS-9 range. With a master’s degree you can apply for jobs between GS-9 and GS-11, and with a doctorate you can work at GS-11 and above.
In the pay scale for GS, positions from grade GS-8 to GS-12 are considered mid-level and from GS-13 to GS-15 are top-level. Then, Federal government salaries for senior and executive level positions use the Senior Level Service (SES) pay scale.
GS Step Increases
Each grade of the GS pay scale has ten steps and every time you climb one you earn approximately 3% more in your federal government salary. In most situations, as a new hired, you’ll be placed at step one. However, agencies can always authorize a higher step rate if you possess superior qualifications or they have a special need for candidates like you.
How to Advance Through GS Steps?
You earn GS step increases based on your longevity and performance at work. Without taking performance ratings into consideration, you need 18 years to advance from step one to step ten of the same GS pay scale grade. This is according to the following waiting periods dictated by OPM:
- one year at steps one to three
- two years at steps four to six
- three years at steps seven to nine
If you are an outstanding employee, you can earn a maximum of one additional GS step increase per year.
Are Federal Government Salaries the Same Nationwide?
No, federal government salaries are not the same nationwide. Most federal employees are eligible for locality pay, and some also for special rate requests, which makes the main General Schedule salary table a mere representation of the minimum salary for all the steps in each grade.
Federal Government Salaries: Examples
We’ll now show you how to estimate the minimum federal government salary you could earn in your occupation plus some examples of how that salary will change based on the job location. Federal white-collar occupations are broken down into job series, which are associated with a numerical code. All the information about the title, grade, and pay system of each federal occupation can be found in the related job series position classification standards and functional guides established by OPM.
If, for example, you want to work as a fingerprint examiner or specialist, according to the classification standards for the fingerprint identification series (code GS-0072), there are assignments from grade GS-2 to GS-12. Now, let’s pretend that you qualify for the assignment GS-0072-9, fingerprint specialist with a GS-9 pay.
To find the minimum salary for GS-9 positions, also known as your basic pay, it’s enough to look at the most recent pay scale GS-9, which OPM typically releases each January For example, this year’s annualGS-9 pay ranges from $49,028 (step one) to $63,734 (step ten).
As mentioned, on top of the basic pay, most federal government salaries also receive locality pay, and some qualify for special rate pay as well.
Let’s use the same example of assignment GS-0072-9, fingerprint specialist with GS-9 pay, and imagine that this job is located in the Seattle-Tacoma area. As that area is subject to a locality pay, your salary for GS-9 would range from $63,525 (step one) to $82,580 (step 10) per year.
Now, for our last example, pretend your job location is still in the Seattle-Tacoma area, but more specifically in Bremerton, and the assignment you qualify for is GS-0830-9, mechanical engineer with GS-9 pay. In this case, according to the OPM special rates tables, your salary for GS-9 would range from $81,708 (step one) to $96,414 (step ten).
Negotiating Federal Government Salaries
Salary negotiation in federal government jobs is possible. Since budgets and funds management work differently to the private sector, negotiation also differs, but there are still a lot of similarities. For example, you still need to establish the reasons why you deserve a higher salary before asking for one.
Remember that the pay scale for GS has ten steps in each grade, and you can get to higher steps by presenting unique qualifications and exceptional skills, meaning you don’t always have to settle for a step one salary. Moreover, if salary research for your job indicates a big salary gap with the private sector, you can add that to the list of reasons to negotiate your federal government salary.
One last thing you should do before deciding how much to negotiate in your federal government salary is weighing the whole compensation package. Don’t get us wrong, we want you to get the best pay you can, but don’t forget that federal government jobs come with great benefits too, which in certain cases can make up for a lower salary.
Federal Employee Compensation Packages
Federal employees enjoy some of the best and most competitive compensation and benefits packages. Notice that we used the plural form “packages” because they vary across the large variety of federal jobs available.
The most common compensation, incentives, and benefits offered to federal workers include:
- federal student loan repayment up to a maximum of $10,000 a year or a maximum of $60,000 over a lifetime
- a relocation incentive if you need to move to a different geographical area to accept your position
- a retention incentive of up to 10% for a group or category of employees, and up to 25% for an individual employee
- performance awards
- paid time off for personal and sick time
- generous family and medical leave
- health insurance plans
- retirement benefits
- life insurance
Another great aspect of working for the federal government is that it gives you strong job security. In the private sector, we see huge layoffs every year, often leaving employees out of a job with no warning.
When working for the federal government, you can of course still be fired, but only for a severe cause like multiple bad performance reviews or misconduct. And not, for example, just because your boss doesn't like you.
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This article is not intended as a substitute for professional financial advice. Always seek the advice of an attorney or financial professional regarding any questions you may have.
