FederalPay.org
FederalPay.org
Law Enforcement (LEO) Payscale in North Carolina 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.
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 | $40,647 | $41,777 | $42,906 | $44,036 | $45,165 | $46,295 | $47,424 | $48,554 | $49,683 | $50,813 |
| LEO-4 | $45,626 | $46,894 | $48,161 | $49,429 | $50,697 | $51,964 | $53,232 | $54,499 | $55,767 | $57,035 |
| LEO-5 | $52,464 | $53,882 | $55,300 | $56,718 | $58,136 | $59,554 | $60,972 | $62,390 | $63,808 | $65,226 |
| LEO-6 | $55,321 | $56,901 | $58,482 | $60,063 | $61,643 | $63,224 | $64,804 | $66,385 | $67,965 | $69,546 |
| LEO-7 | $59,719 | $61,476 | $63,232 | $64,989 | $66,745 | $68,502 | $70,259 | $72,015 | $73,772 | $75,528 |
| LEO-8 | $62,245 | $64,189 | $66,134 | $68,079 | $70,024 | $71,969 | $73,914 | $75,858 | $77,803 | $79,748 |
| LEO-9 | $66,602 | $68,751 | $70,900 | $73,049 | $75,198 | $77,347 | $79,496 | $81,645 | $83,794 | $85,943 |
| LEO-10 | $73,343 | $75,708 | $78,073 | $80,439 | $82,804 | $85,169 | $87,535 | $89,900 | $92,266 | $94,631 |
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 | $39,793 | $40,898 | $42,004 | $43,110 | $44,216 | $45,321 | $46,427 | $47,533 | $48,639 | $49,744 |
| LEO-4 | $44,667 | $45,908 | $47,149 | $48,390 | $49,631 | $50,872 | $52,113 | $53,354 | $54,595 | $55,836 |
| LEO-5 | $51,361 | $52,749 | $54,138 | $55,526 | $56,914 | $58,302 | $59,690 | $61,078 | $62,467 | $63,855 |
| LEO-6 | $54,158 | $55,705 | $57,253 | $58,800 | $60,347 | $61,895 | $63,442 | $64,989 | $66,537 | $68,084 |
| LEO-7 | $58,464 | $60,183 | $61,903 | $63,623 | $65,342 | $67,062 | $68,782 | $70,501 | $72,221 | $73,941 |
| LEO-8 | $60,936 | $62,840 | $64,744 | $66,648 | $68,552 | $70,456 | $72,360 | $74,264 | $76,168 | $78,072 |
| LEO-9 | $65,202 | $67,306 | $69,410 | $71,514 | $73,617 | $75,721 | $77,825 | $79,929 | $82,033 | $84,136 |
| LEO-10 | $71,801 | $74,116 | $76,432 | $78,748 | $81,063 | $83,379 | $85,694 | $88,010 | $90,326 | $92,641 |
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 | $39,503 | $40,601 | $41,699 | $42,797 | $43,894 | $44,992 | $46,090 | $47,187 | $48,285 | $49,383 |
| LEO-4 | $44,342 | $45,574 | $46,806 | $48,038 | $49,270 | $50,502 | $51,734 | $52,966 | $54,198 | $55,430 |
| LEO-5 | $50,988 | $52,366 | $53,744 | $55,122 | $56,500 | $57,878 | $59,256 | $60,634 | $62,012 | $63,390 |
| LEO-6 | $53,764 | $55,300 | $56,836 | $58,372 | $59,908 | $61,445 | $62,981 | $64,517 | $66,053 | $67,589 |
| LEO-7 | $58,039 | $59,746 | $61,453 | $63,160 | $64,867 | $66,574 | $68,281 | $69,989 | $71,696 | $73,403 |
| LEO-8 | $60,493 | $62,383 | $64,273 | $66,163 | $68,053 | $69,944 | $71,834 | $73,724 | $75,614 | $77,504 |
| LEO-9 | $64,728 | $66,817 | $68,905 | $70,994 | $73,082 | $75,171 | $77,259 | $79,348 | $81,436 | $83,525 |
| LEO-10 | $71,279 | $73,578 | $75,876 | $78,175 | $80,474 | $82,773 | $85,071 | $87,370 | $89,669 | $91,968 |
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 | $38,925 | $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: 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 $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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