FederalPay.org
FederalPay.org
Law Enforcement (LEO) Payscale in Kentucky for 2025
The Law Enforcement (LEO) payscale is the federal government payscale used to determine the salaries of over 70% of federal civilian employees.
Like the General Schedule (GS) Payscale, under the LEO payscale an employee's base pay depends on two factors - the LEO 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 LEO payscale based on cost-of-living in different areas within the United States.
Kentucky has one or more Locality Pay Adjustment areas with special locality pay adjustment rates. This page lists the locality-adjusted yearly LEO pay scales for each area, with starting pay for a LEO-1 broken down by county in the interactive map.
The CINCINNATI-WILMINGTON-MAYSVILLE, OH-KY-IN General Schedule locality region applies to government employees who work in Cincinnati and surrounding areas. General Schedule employees who work within this region are paid 21.93% more than the GS base pay rates to account for local cost of living.
| LEO Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEO-3 | $40,137 | $41,251 | $42,366 | $43,480 | $44,595 | $45,709 | $46,824 | $47,938 | $49,052 | $50,167 |
| LEO-4 | $45,062 | $46,314 | $47,566 | $48,818 | $50,071 | $51,323 | $52,575 | $53,827 | $55,079 | $56,332 |
| LEO-5 | $51,808 | $53,208 | $54,608 | $56,007 | $57,407 | $58,807 | $60,207 | $61,606 | $63,006 | $64,406 |
| LEO-6 | $54,633 | $56,194 | $57,755 | $59,315 | $60,876 | $62,437 | $63,997 | $65,558 | $67,119 | $68,680 |
| LEO-7 | $58,979 | $60,714 | $62,449 | $64,184 | $65,919 | $67,654 | $69,389 | $71,124 | $72,859 | $74,594 |
| LEO-8 | $61,473 | $63,395 | $65,317 | $67,238 | $69,160 | $71,082 | $73,003 | $74,925 | $76,846 | $78,768 |
| LEO-9 | $65,775 | $67,897 | $70,018 | $72,140 | $74,261 | $76,383 | $78,505 | $80,626 | $82,748 | $84,869 |
| LEO-10 | $72,433 | $74,769 | $77,105 | $79,441 | $81,777 | $84,113 | $86,450 | $88,786 | $91,122 | $93,458 |
The Cincinnati locality pay rates also apply to federal workers in the following major cities: and other areas within the region.
Any federal employees in Kentucky 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 17.06% (shown in the table below).
| LEO Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEO-3 | $38,534 | $39,604 | $40,674 | $41,744 | $42,814 | $43,883 | $44,953 | $46,023 | $47,093 | $48,163 |
| LEO-4 | $43,262 | $44,464 | $45,666 | $46,868 | $48,071 | $49,273 | $50,475 | $51,677 | $52,880 | $54,082 |
| LEO-5 | $49,739 | $51,083 | $52,426 | $53,770 | $55,114 | $56,458 | $57,802 | $59,146 | $60,490 | $61,833 |
| LEO-6 | $52,451 | $53,949 | $55,448 | $56,946 | $58,445 | $59,943 | $61,441 | $62,940 | $64,438 | $65,936 |
| LEO-7 | $56,623 | $58,289 | $59,955 | $61,620 | $63,286 | $64,952 | $66,618 | $68,283 | $69,949 | $71,615 |
| LEO-8 | $59,018 | $60,863 | $62,708 | $64,553 | $66,398 | $68,242 | $70,087 | $71,932 | $73,777 | $75,622 |
| LEO-9 | $63,148 | $65,185 | $67,222 | $69,259 | $71,295 | $73,332 | $75,369 | $77,406 | $79,443 | $81,480 |
| LEO-10 | $69,539 | $71,782 | $74,025 | $76,268 | $78,511 | $80,754 | $82,997 | $85,240 | $87,482 | $89,725 |
The Rest of U.S. locality pay rates also apply to federal workers in the following major cities: Hopkinsville, Lexington-Fayette, Lexington, Fort Knox, and other areas within the region.
* For some high-paygrade workers, pay under the GS scale may be capped at $195,200 the SES (Senior Executive Scale)'s Level 4 pay for the current year (5 U.S.C. 5304 (g)(1)).
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