FederalPay.org
FederalPay.org
Law Enforcement (LEO) Payscale in Kentucky for 2026
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 | $40,544 | $41,671 | $42,797 | $43,924 | $45,051 | $46,177 | $47,304 | $48,431 | $49,557 | $50,684 |
| LEO-4 | $45,510 | $46,775 | $48,039 | $49,304 | $50,568 | $51,832 | $53,097 | $54,361 | $55,626 | $56,890 |
| LEO-5 | $52,331 | $53,746 | $55,160 | $56,574 | $57,989 | $59,403 | $60,817 | $62,232 | $63,646 | $65,061 |
| LEO-6 | $55,181 | $56,757 | $58,334 | $59,910 | $61,487 | $63,063 | $64,640 | $66,217 | $67,793 | $69,370 |
| LEO-7 | $59,568 | $61,320 | $63,072 | $64,824 | $66,576 | $68,328 | $70,080 | $71,833 | $73,585 | $75,337 |
| LEO-8 | $62,087 | $64,027 | $65,967 | $67,906 | $69,846 | $71,786 | $73,726 | $75,666 | $77,606 | $79,546 |
| LEO-9 | $66,434 | $68,577 | $70,721 | $72,864 | $75,008 | $77,151 | $79,295 | $81,438 | $83,582 | $85,725 |
| LEO-10 | $73,157 | $75,516 | $77,875 | $80,235 | $82,594 | $84,954 | $87,313 | $89,672 | $92,032 | $94,391 |
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 | $38,925 | $40,006 | $41,088 | $42,170 | $43,251 | $44,333 | $45,415 | $46,496 | $47,578 | $48,660 |
| LEO-4 | $43,693 | $44,907 | $46,120 | $47,334 | $48,548 | $49,762 | $50,976 | $52,190 | $53,404 | $54,618 |
| LEO-5 | $50,241 | $51,599 | $52,957 | $54,315 | $55,673 | $57,030 | $58,388 | $59,746 | $61,104 | $62,462 |
| LEO-6 | $52,977 | $54,490 | $56,004 | $57,517 | $59,031 | $60,545 | $62,058 | $63,572 | $65,085 | $66,599 |
| LEO-7 | $57,188 | $58,871 | $60,553 | $62,235 | $63,917 | $65,599 | $67,281 | $68,964 | $70,646 | $72,328 |
| LEO-8 | $59,607 | $61,469 | $63,332 | $65,194 | $67,057 | $68,919 | $70,781 | $72,644 | $74,506 | $76,369 |
| LEO-9 | $63,780 | $65,838 | $67,896 | $69,954 | $72,012 | $74,070 | $76,128 | $78,186 | $80,243 | $82,301 |
| LEO-10 | $70,235 | $72,500 | $74,765 | $77,030 | $79,295 | $81,560 | $83,825 | $86,091 | $88,356 | $90,621 |
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 $197,200 the SES (Senior Executive Scale)'s Level 4 pay for the current year (5 U.S.C. 5304 (g)(1)).
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