GS-4 pay scale 2026 by step and locality

Where table 001M fades out

OPM's special rate table 001M lists GS-4 rates for steps 1 to 5 only. Above that, the locality rate of every area is already higher, so a special rate would serve no purpose. Even within the covered steps the reach shrinks quickly. Counting the 58 locality areas where 001M pays more than locality, the number goes 20 at step 1, 15 at step 2, 12 at step 3, 5 at step 4, 1 at step 5. At step 5, Rest of U.S. is the only area left: $41,341 from 001M against a locality rate of $41,265, a difference of $76.

The practical effect is small but real. A GS-4 at step 1 in Atlanta earns $38,502 because Atlanta's 23.79 % locality percentage already beats the special table. The same employee in an area with a low percentage, such as Rest of U.S. or a smaller metro, is paid the national $37,193. Once you are past step 5, every GS-4 is on the regular locality table of their area, like the grades above.

Steps 1 to 10 in Rest of U.S.

Because table 001M props up the lower steps, the first within-grade increases in Rest of U.S. follow the 001M spacing of $1,037 a year. Step 5 to step 6 is different: you leave 001M at $41,341 and land on the locality rate of $42,479, a gain of $1,138. From there each step adds $1,214 or so. Steps 5 to 7 come after 104 weeks each and steps 8 to 10 after 156 weeks, so most GS-4 employees who stay in the grade spend many years on the upper, locality-paid steps.

What the move to GS-5 pays

GS-5 is the grade most GS-4 employees aim for, since it opens the two-grade ladders of many administrative and technical careers. Under the two-step rule of 5 CFR 531.214, a GS-4 step 3 in Rest of U.S. earning $39,267 is placed at GS-5 step 2, $42,094, a raise of $2,827 or 7.2 %. In Washington, a GS-4 step 6 goes from $48,604 to GS-5 step 5 at $52,825. Your waiting period for the next step starts again on the promotion date.

No 52-week time-in-grade wait applies to that move: the time-in-grade regulation lets agencies advance employees to any grade up to GS-5 as long as it is no more than two grades above the lowest grade held in the past 52 weeks. You still need to meet the GS-5 requirement of the OPM qualification standards: for clerical and assistant work, one year of experience equivalent to GS-4 or four years of education above high school. The GS-5 page picks up from there.

Overtime at GS-4

Overtime is time and a half of your hourly rate at every GS-4 step: $26.73 at step 1 and $34.02 at step 10 in Rest of U.S. Even GS-4 step 10 in San Francisco, $28.35 an hour, stays below that area's GS-10 step 1 rate of $40.71, so the overtime cap never applies.