FederalPay.org
FederalPay.org
Law Enforcement (LEO) Payscale in North Carolina 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.
North Carolina 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 RALEIGH-DURHAM-CARY, NC General Schedule locality region applies to government employees who work in Raleigh and surrounding areas. General Schedule employees who work within this region are paid 22.24% 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 | $40,239 | $41,356 | $42,474 | $43,591 | $44,708 | $45,825 | $46,943 | $48,060 | $49,177 | $50,294 |
| LEO-4 | $45,176 | $46,432 | $47,687 | $48,942 | $50,198 | $51,453 | $52,709 | $53,964 | $55,219 | $56,475 |
| LEO-5 | $51,940 | $53,343 | $54,746 | $56,150 | $57,553 | $58,956 | $60,360 | $61,763 | $63,166 | $64,570 |
| LEO-6 | $54,772 | $56,337 | $57,901 | $59,466 | $61,031 | $62,595 | $64,160 | $65,725 | $67,289 | $68,854 |
| LEO-7 | $59,129 | $60,868 | $62,608 | $64,347 | $66,087 | $67,826 | $69,566 | $71,305 | $73,045 | $74,784 |
| LEO-8 | $61,630 | $63,556 | $65,483 | $67,409 | $69,336 | $71,262 | $73,189 | $75,115 | $77,042 | $78,968 |
| LEO-9 | $65,942 | $68,069 | $70,196 | $72,323 | $74,450 | $76,577 | $78,704 | $80,831 | $82,958 | $85,085 |
| LEO-10 | $72,617 | $74,959 | $77,301 | $79,643 | $81,985 | $84,327 | $86,669 | $89,012 | $91,354 | $93,696 |
The Raleigh locality pay rates also apply to federal workers in the following major cities: Cary, Durham, Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Raleigh, and other areas within the region.
The CHARLOTTE-CONCORD, NC-SC General Schedule locality region applies to government employees who work in Charlotte and surrounding areas. General Schedule employees who work within this region are paid 19.67% 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 | $39,393 | $40,487 | $41,581 | $42,674 | $43,768 | $44,862 | $45,956 | $47,049 | $48,143 | $49,237 |
| LEO-4 | $44,226 | $45,455 | $46,684 | $47,913 | $49,142 | $50,371 | $51,601 | $52,830 | $54,059 | $55,288 |
| LEO-5 | $50,848 | $52,222 | $53,595 | $54,969 | $56,343 | $57,717 | $59,091 | $60,464 | $61,838 | $63,212 |
| LEO-6 | $53,621 | $55,152 | $56,684 | $58,216 | $59,748 | $61,279 | $62,811 | $64,343 | $65,875 | $67,407 |
| LEO-7 | $57,886 | $59,588 | $61,291 | $62,994 | $64,697 | $66,400 | $68,103 | $69,806 | $71,509 | $73,212 |
| LEO-8 | $60,334 | $62,220 | $64,106 | $65,992 | $67,878 | $69,764 | $71,650 | $73,536 | $75,422 | $77,308 |
| LEO-9 | $64,556 | $66,638 | $68,720 | $70,803 | $72,885 | $74,967 | $77,050 | $79,132 | $81,214 | $83,296 |
| LEO-10 | $71,090 | $73,383 | $75,676 | $77,969 | $80,261 | $82,554 | $84,847 | $87,140 | $89,433 | $91,726 |
The Charlotte locality pay rates also apply to federal workers in the following major cities: Charlotte, and other areas within the region.
The VIRGINIA BEACH-NORFOLK, VA-NC General Schedule locality region applies to government employees who work in Virginia Beach and surrounding areas. General Schedule employees who work within this region are paid 18.8% 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 | $39,107 | $40,192 | $41,278 | $42,364 | $43,450 | $44,536 | $45,622 | $46,707 | $47,793 | $48,879 |
| LEO-4 | $43,905 | $45,125 | $46,345 | $47,565 | $48,785 | $50,005 | $51,225 | $52,445 | $53,666 | $54,886 |
| LEO-5 | $50,478 | $51,842 | $53,206 | $54,570 | $55,933 | $57,297 | $58,661 | $60,025 | $61,389 | $62,753 |
| LEO-6 | $53,231 | $54,751 | $56,272 | $57,793 | $59,313 | $60,834 | $62,355 | $63,875 | $65,396 | $66,916 |
| LEO-7 | $57,465 | $59,155 | $60,846 | $62,536 | $64,227 | $65,917 | $67,608 | $69,298 | $70,989 | $72,679 |
| LEO-8 | $59,895 | $61,768 | $63,640 | $65,512 | $67,385 | $69,257 | $71,129 | $73,001 | $74,874 | $76,746 |
| LEO-9 | $64,087 | $66,154 | $68,221 | $70,288 | $72,355 | $74,422 | $76,489 | $78,557 | $80,624 | $82,691 |
| LEO-10 | $70,573 | $72,849 | $75,126 | $77,402 | $79,678 | $81,954 | $84,230 | $86,507 | $88,783 | $91,059 |
The Virginia Beach locality pay rates also apply to federal workers in the following major cities: Elizabeth City, and other areas within the region.
Any federal employees in North Carolina 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: Greensboro, Havelock, High Point, Hoffman, Jacksonville, Southport, Wilmington, Winston-Salem, 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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