The federal government pay scale is laid out in the GS (General Schedule).

The GS was designed to keep Federal government salaries on a par for all federal jobs throughout the various Federal agencies.

The GS is divided into 15 grades and each grade has 10 levels. There used to be 3 GS "supergrades" GS-16, GS-17 and GS-18. These were replaced by the (SES) Senior Executive Service.

The following is a BASE Pay Scale For Positions (2006)

Note: U.S. locations also receive additional pay adjustment above the base pay ranging from 12.64% to 30.34%.

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

The qualifications needed for each job are described in detail in the vacancy announcements that advertise job openings. Each job also has a code that corresponds to its minimum requirements. Understanding these codes will speed your search. Most federal positions require resumes in order to apply. They may require the OF 612, Resumix or the SES depending on the position and the job announcement.

Gaining work experience will often qualify you for higher GS levels. A rule of thumb is, 1 year of experience related to the job could raise your grade by one GS level in most clerical and technician positions.

In administrative, professional, and scientific positions, GS level increases in increments of two until you reach a GS-12. After that, GS level increases one level at a time.

GS levels by education

• GS-1: No high school diploma
• GS-2 (GS-3 for clerk-steno positions): High school diploma
• GS-3: 1 year of full-time study after high school
• GS-4: Associate degree or 2 years of full-time study after high school
• GS-5 or GS-7: depending on agency policy and applicant's academic credentials Bachelor's degree or

• GS-7: Bachelor's degree plus 1 year of full-time graduate study
• GS-9(GS-11 for some research positions): Master's degree or 2 years of full-time graduate study
• GS-9: Law degree (J.D. or LL.B.)
• GS-11(GS-12 for some research positions): PhD. or equivalent doctorate or advanced law deg

Federal career articles

• Federal Resumes
• Federal Jobs
• How to write a KSA
• Resumix
• Federal pay scale