GS-8 pay scale 2026 by step and locality

Who holds a GS-8

You will not find GS-8 on a 5, 7, 9, 11 ladder. The grade lives in series that move one grade at a time, where the work is technical or supporting rather than professional: experienced engineering, electronics or medical technicians, senior program and management assistants, and specialists in fields such as payroll, purchasing or legal support. A GS-8 knows the procedures of the field in depth and handles unusual cases, often guiding less experienced coworkers. In many of these series GS-8 is near the top of the line, and moving higher can mean a lead or supervisory role, or a switch to a two-grade series at GS-9.

Entry at GS-8 by external hire usually needs one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-7. Promotion from GS-7 is the more common route. Until January 18, 2027, it requires 52 weeks at GS-7; a final rule OPM published on October 19, 2026 ends that requirement on January 19, 2027, while the specialized experience standard stays. A GS-7 step 2 in Rest of U.S. earning $52,142 is placed at GS-8 step 1, $55,882.

The overtime cap starts here

For FLSA-exempt employees, overtime is time and a half only up to a ceiling: 1.5 times the hourly rate of GS-10 step 1 in your area. Below GS-8 nobody reaches it. At GS-8 the upper steps do. In Rest of U.S., GS-10 step 1 is $32.57 an hour. GS-8 step 7 pays $32.13, still below that line, so its overtime is $48.20. Step 8 pays $33.02, above it, and overtime stops at $48.86, the same figure as steps 9 and 10. Because the cap moves with the locality percentage, it falls at step 8 in every locality area. Your FLSA status, shown on your SF-50, decides which overtime rule payroll uses.

Steps when GS-8 is the top of your series

If no higher grade exists in your line, within-grade increases carry your pay. In Rest of U.S. the climb from step 1 to step 10 adds $16,762, over 18 years of on-time increases. GS-8 step 10 there, $72,644, pays more than GS-9 step 6 ($72,012), which is why some long-serving GS-8 employees gain little by moving one grade. The step increase guide lists the waiting periods and what a quality step increase changes.

Moving up to GS-9

A promotion to GS-9 follows the two-step rule. From GS-8 step 2 in Rest of U.S. you go from $57,745 to GS-9 step 1, $61,722, a raise of $3,977. From GS-8 step 5 in Washington, $72,464, you land at GS-9 step 4, $77,687. Above GS-9 lies GS-10, another grade used mostly by one-grade-interval series.