GS step increases in 2026: when your next step comes and what it pays
Within-grade increases follow a fixed calendar of creditable service. Enter your grade, step and months in step to see when each remaining step falls.
Next step: step 3
in 8 months
52 weeks in step 2 are required, then +$2,058 a year.
| Step 3 (52 weeks) | $65,838 |
| Step 4 (52 weeks) | $67,896 |
| Step 5 (104 weeks) | $69,954 |
| Step | Waiting period | Reached in about | 2026 rate | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 3 | 52 weeks | 8 months | $65,838 | +$2,058 |
| Step 4 | 52 weeks | 20 months | $67,896 | +$2,058 |
| Step 5 | 104 weeks | 44 months | $69,954 | +$2,058 |
| Step 6 | 104 weeks | 68 months | $72,012 | +$2,058 |
| Step 7 | 104 weeks | 92 months | $74,070 | +$2,058 |
| Step 8 | 156 weeks | 128 months | $76,128 | +$2,058 |
| Step 9 | 156 weeks | 164 months | $78,186 | +$2,058 |
| Step 10 | 156 weeks | 200 months | $80,243 | +$2,057 |
Prepared by Radif Partners · How the figures are built · read on opm.gov, ecfr.gov and ssa.gov · not an official determination
A within-grade increase, or step increase, moves a General Schedule employee to the next step of the same grade once three conditions are met: the waiting period is complete, performance is at an acceptable level of competence (a rating of record of at least Fully Successful), and no equivalent increase such as a promotion came during the wait. Under 5 CFR 531.405 the waiting period is 52 weeks of creditable service to reach steps 2, 3 and 4, 104 weeks for steps 5, 6 and 7, and 156 weeks for steps 8, 9 and 10. On time, the climb from step 1 to step 10 takes 18 years. Each step is worth the same base amount within a grade from GS-3 up, about 3.3 % of step 1: $1,758 of base pay at GS-9 and $3,031 at GS-13, before locality. In Rest of U.S. a GS-9 goes from $61,722 at step 1 to $80,243 at step 10 in 2026. A quality step increase adds one step early for outstanding performance and does not restart the clock.
The three waiting periods
The rule in 5 CFR 531.405 is written by rate, not by step number. If your rate is below step 4 of your grade, you need 52 calendar weeks of creditable service to move up one step. From step 4 up to below step 7, you need 104 weeks. From step 7 on, 156 weeks. Put in step terms: steps 2, 3 and 4 come one year apart, steps 5, 6 and 7 two years apart, steps 8, 9 and 10 three years apart. Three short waits, three medium, three long: 936 weeks in all, or 18 years.
Employees without a scheduled tour of duty, such as some intermittent workers, count days in a pay status instead: 260 days over at least 52 weeks below step 4, 520 days over at least 104 weeks from step 4, and 780 days over at least 156 weeks from step 7. Everyone else simply counts calendar weeks.
| Moving to | Waiting period | Years | Total from step 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step 2 | 52 weeks | 1 | 1 years |
| Step 3 | 52 weeks | 1 | 2 years |
| Step 4 | 52 weeks | 1 | 3 years |
| Step 5 | 104 weeks | 2 | 5 years |
| Step 6 | 104 weeks | 2 | 7 years |
| Step 7 | 104 weeks | 2 | 9 years |
| Step 8 | 156 weeks | 3 | 12 years |
| Step 9 | 156 weeks | 3 | 15 years |
| Step 10 | 156 weeks | 3 | 18 years |
When the clock starts and what stops it
A waiting period begins on your first federal appointment, on any equivalent increase, or after more than 52 weeks of nonpay status or break in service unless that time is itself creditable. The equivalent increases are listed in 5 CFR 531.407: a regular step increase, a promotion to a higher grade, and a few pay-setting actions that move you to a higher step of your grade. A temporary promotion that ends with a return to your old grade does not count, nor does a quality step increase. Changes in locality pay or a move onto a special rate table are not equivalent increases either, because those rates are not basic pay for this purpose.
Creditable service, set out in 5 CFR part 531 at section 531.406, is civilian employment in any branch of the federal government. Paid annual leave, sick leave, advanced leave and service under temporary or term appointments all count. Unpaid time counts only up to two workweeks within a 52-week wait, four within a 104-week wait and six within a 156-week wait; beyond that the wait is extended by the excess. Military service counts for one waiting period if you return to federal work within 52 weeks of leaving it, and time on military leave with restoration rights or on workers' compensation counts for successive waiting periods. Non-workdays between your last day in one position and your first day in the next do not interrupt the clock.
When is your next step due?
Next step: step 5
in 14 months
| Step 5 (104 weeks) | $138,024 |
| Step 6 (104 weeks) | $142,084 |
| Step 7 (104 weeks) | $146,143 |
The performance condition
Time alone is not enough. Section 531.404 requires an acceptable level of competence, which means your most recent rating of record is at least Level 3, Fully Successful or its equivalent. The agency head or a delegated official makes the call, and the rating used must be from the most recently completed appraisal period. If you have not had the minimum appraisal period in your current job because you were never told the performance standards, the decision is delayed, the appraisal period extended, and the increase is paid back to the start of the pay period after the wait ended if the result is positive. If you could not be rated during the last 52 weeks of the wait because of paid leave, creditable absences, details, union representation or long-term training, the determination is waived and the increase granted. A negative determination must be given in writing, with the reasons and your right to reconsideration.
Quality step increases
A quality step increase is a reward, not an entitlement. Under 5 CFR 531.504 it may go only to an employee rated Level 5, Outstanding, or, in a program without a Level 5, rated at the highest level and showing sustained performance well above Fully Successful. It adds one full step at once. It may not be granted twice within 52 consecutive weeks. Because it is excluded from the equivalent increase rule, the time you already served toward your next regular step keeps counting. A GS-13 at step 2 in Washington who receives one moves to step 3, $129,904, and still reaches step 4 on the date originally planned.
What each step is worth by grade
From GS-3 to GS-15 the base table adds the same dollar amount at every step of a grade, about 3.3 % of the step 1 rate. GS-1 and GS-2 are irregular because their lower steps were reshaped over the years, so the increments vary from one step to the next. Your locality percentage applies to the whole rate, so the increase you see on your leave and earnings statement is the base increment times one plus your locality percentage, rounded with the rest of the rate. In Washington-Baltimore, a GS-13 step increase from step 1 is worth $4,060 a year, against $3,031 of base pay.
| Grade | Base increment per step | Rest of U.S., step 1 to 2 | Step 1 to step 10, Rest of U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| GS-1 | varies, $31 to $757 | $724 | $6,516 |
| GS-2 | varies, $308 to $842 | $819 | $7,371 |
| GS-3 | $924 | $924 | $8,316 |
| GS-4 | $1,037 | $1,037 | $10,141 |
| GS-5 | $1,160 | $1,358 | $12,221 |
| GS-6 | $1,293 | $1,513 | $13,622 |
| GS-7 | $1,437 | $1,682 | $15,139 |
| GS-8 | $1,591 | $1,863 | $16,762 |
| GS-9 | $1,758 | $2,058 | $18,521 |
| GS-10 | $1,935 | $2,265 | $20,386 |
| GS-11 | $2,127 | $2,490 | $22,409 |
| GS-12 | $2,549 | $2,983 | $26,854 |
| GS-13 | $3,031 | $3,548 | $31,933 |
| GS-14 | $3,582 | $4,193 | $37,738 |
| GS-15 | $4,213 | $4,932 | $44,386 |
A full climb, year by year
Take a GS-9 hired at step 1 in a Rest of U.S. county. In today's table, step 2 arrives after about 12 months and pays $63,780. Step 4 comes about three years in, at $67,896. Step 7 takes nine years from hire, at $74,070, and step 10 18 years, at $80,243. In real life annual raises lift the whole table over those years, and most GS-9 employees on a career ladder are promoted long before step 4. That is the trade-off the promotion calculator shows: a promotion pays more at once but restarts the waiting period, while staying in grade lets the steps add up slowly. For the dollar value of each step at your grade and area, the GS pay scale gives the full table, and the high-3 page shows why the last steps before retirement matter for a FERS annuity.