Interactive Tool
Federal Salary Explorer
What does the federal government actually pay? Explore salaries across 128 agencies, see how GS grades translate to real compensation, and compare agencies side by side.
🔍 Search Agency Salaries
How Federal Pay Works
Most federal civilian employees are paid under the General Schedule (GS) system, which has 15 grades (GS-1 through GS-15) with 10 steps each. Pay varies by locality — a GS-13 in San Francisco earns significantly more than one in rural Alabama. Senior executives (SES) and certain specialized roles (doctors, scientists, IT) have separate pay systems.
The data here comes from OPM FedScope and reflects actual salaries, not just base pay tables. This includes locality adjustments, special pay rates, and other supplements.