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General Schedule (GS) Payscale in Washington for 2021

Click any county to view locality pay tables

The General Schedule (GS) payscale is the federal government payscale used to determine the salaries of over 70% of federal civilian employees.

Under the GS payscale, an employee's base pay depends on two factors - the GS Paygrade of their job, and the Paygrade Step they have achieved (depending on seniority or performance). This base pay is then modified based on a "Locality Pay Adjustment", which adjusts the GS payscale based on cost-of-living in different areas within the United States.

Washington has one or more Locality Pay Adjustment areas with special locality pay adjustment rates. This page lists the locality-adjusted yearly GS pay scales for each area, with starting pay for a GS-1 broken down by county in the interactive map. For a detailed calculation of your pay as a GS employee in Washington, see our General Schedule Pay Calculator.

SEATTLE-TACOMA, WA

The SEATTLE-TACOMA, WA General Schedule locality region applies to government employees who work in Seattle and surrounding areas. General Schedule employees who work within this region are paid 27.02% more than the GS base pay rates to account for local cost of living.

GS Grade Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10
GS-1$25,071$25,912$26,745$27,575$28,408$28,896$29,720$30,551$30,584$31,361
GS-2$28,191$28,861$29,795$30,584$30,928$31,838$32,747$33,656$34,566$35,475
GS-3$30,759$31,784$32,809$33,834$34,859$35,884$36,909$37,935$38,960$39,985
GS-4$34,529$35,680$36,831$37,982$39,132$40,283$41,434$42,585$43,736$44,886
GS-5$38,632$39,920$41,208$42,496$43,784$45,072$46,360$47,648$48,936$50,224
GS-6$43,064$44,499$45,934$47,370$48,805$50,240$51,676$53,111$54,546$55,982
GS-7$47,854$49,449$51,044$52,640$54,235$55,830$57,426$59,021$60,616$62,212
GS-8$52,997$54,763$56,530$58,297$60,064$61,831$63,598$65,364$67,131$68,898
GS-9$58,535$60,486$62,437$64,388$66,339$68,290$70,241$72,192$74,143$76,094
GS-10$64,460$66,609$68,758$70,908$73,057$75,206$77,355$79,504$81,654$83,803
GS-11$70,821$73,183$75,544$77,905$80,266$82,628$84,989$87,350$89,712$92,073
GS-12$84,886$87,716$90,546$93,376$96,206$99,036$101,866$104,696$107,526$110,356
GS-13$100,940$104,305$107,670$111,035$114,399$117,764$121,129$124,494$127,858$131,223
GS-14$119,281$123,256$127,232$131,208$135,184$139,159$143,135$147,111$151,086$155,062
GS-15$140,306$144,983$149,660$154,337$159,014$163,691$168,368$172,500*$172,500*$172,500*

The Seattle locality pay rate also applies to Bellevue, Bremerton, Everett, Kent, Oak Harbor, Seattle, Tacoma, and other cities within the region.

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PORTLAND-VANCOUVER-SALEM, OR-WA

The PORTLAND-VANCOUVER-SALEM, OR-WA General Schedule locality region applies to government employees who work in Portland and surrounding areas. General Schedule employees who work within this region are paid 23.74% more than the GS base pay rates to account for local cost of living.

GS Grade Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10
GS-1$24,424$25,243$26,055$26,863$27,674$28,150$28,953$29,762$29,794$30,551
GS-2$27,463$28,116$29,026$29,794$30,129$31,015$31,901$32,787$33,673$34,559
GS-3$29,965$30,963$31,962$32,961$33,959$34,958$35,956$36,955$37,954$38,952
GS-4$33,637$34,759$35,880$37,001$38,122$39,243$40,364$41,485$42,606$43,727
GS-5$37,634$38,889$40,144$41,398$42,653$43,908$45,163$46,417$47,672$48,927
GS-6$41,952$43,350$44,748$46,146$47,545$48,943$50,341$51,739$53,138$54,536
GS-7$46,618$48,172$49,726$51,280$52,835$54,389$55,943$57,497$59,051$60,605
GS-8$51,628$53,349$55,070$56,792$58,513$60,234$61,955$63,677$65,398$67,119
GS-9$57,023$58,924$60,824$62,725$64,626$66,526$68,427$70,328$72,228$74,129
GS-10$62,796$64,889$66,983$69,077$71,170$73,264$75,358$77,451$79,545$81,639
GS-11$68,992$71,293$73,593$75,893$78,194$80,494$82,794$85,095$87,395$89,695
GS-12$82,694$85,451$88,208$90,965$93,722$96,479$99,236$101,993$104,750$107,507
GS-13$98,334$101,612$104,889$108,167$111,445$114,723$118,001$121,279$124,557$127,835
GS-14$116,201$120,074$123,947$127,820$131,693$135,566$139,439$143,312$147,185$151,058
GS-15$136,683$141,239$145,795$150,352$154,908$159,464$164,020$168,576$172,500*$172,500*

The Portland locality pay rate also applies to Vancouver, and other cities within the region.

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Rest of Washington

Any federal employees in Washington who do not live in an area for which a specific Locality Pay Adjustment has been set will receive the generic "Rest of the United States" locality pay adjustment of 15.95% (shown in the table below).

GS Grade Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10
GS-1$22,886$23,654$24,414$25,172$25,932$26,377$27,130$27,888$27,918$28,628
GS-2$25,734$26,346$27,198$27,918$28,233$29,063$29,893$30,723$31,553$32,384
GS-3$28,078$29,014$29,950$30,886$31,821$32,757$33,693$34,628$35,564$36,500
GS-4$31,520$32,570$33,621$34,671$35,722$36,772$37,823$38,873$39,924$40,974
GS-5$35,265$36,441$37,616$38,792$39,968$41,144$42,319$43,495$44,671$45,847
GS-6$39,311$40,621$41,931$43,241$44,551$45,862$47,172$48,482$49,792$51,103
GS-7$43,683$45,139$46,596$48,052$49,508$50,965$52,421$53,877$55,334$56,790
GS-8$48,378$49,991$51,604$53,216$54,829$56,442$58,055$59,668$61,281$62,894
GS-9$53,433$55,214$56,995$58,776$60,557$62,338$64,119$65,900$67,681$69,462
GS-10$58,842$60,804$62,766$64,728$66,690$68,652$70,614$72,575$74,537$76,499
GS-11$64,649$66,805$68,960$71,116$73,271$75,427$77,582$79,738$81,893$84,049
GS-12$77,488$80,072$82,655$85,238$87,822$90,405$92,988$95,572$98,155$100,739
GS-13$92,143$95,215$98,286$101,358$104,429$107,501$110,572$113,644$116,715$119,787
GS-14$108,885$112,514$116,144$119,773$123,402$127,031$130,661$134,290$137,919$141,548
GS-15$128,078$132,348$136,617$140,886$145,155$149,425$153,694$157,963$162,233$166,502

The Rest of U.S. locality pay rate also applies to Yakima, and other cities within the region.

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* For some high-paygrade workers pay under the GS scale may be capped at $172,500, which is the SES (Senior Executive Scale)'s Level 4 pay for the current year (5 U.S.C. 5304 (g)(1)).


** This Document Provided By www.FederalPay.org - The Civil Employee's Resource **
Source: www.federalpay.org/gs/2021/washington