GS-11 Pay Scale 2026

Base salary: $63,795 – $82,929 • With locality: up to $121,358

54 locality areas • 10 steps • 18 years to top step

GS-11 Qualifications

Education: PhD or 3 years graduate

Experience: 1 year specialized at GS-9

GS-11 Base Pay Table (Before Locality)

Step Annual Salary Biweekly Hourly Wait Time
Step 1 $63,795 $2,454 $30.57 -
Step 2 $65,921 $2,535 $31.59 1 year
Step 3 $68,047 $2,617 $32.61 1 year
Step 4 $70,173 $2,699 $33.62 2 years
Step 5 $72,299 $2,781 $34.64 2 years
Step 6 $74,425 $2,863 $35.66 2 years
Step 7 $76,551 $2,944 $36.68 3 years
Step 8 $78,677 $3,026 $37.70 3 years
Step 9 $80,803 $3,108 $38.72 3 years
Step 10 $82,929 $3,190 $39.74 3 years

GS-11 Salary by Locality Area

Locality pay adjusts your base salary based on where you work. The table below shows GS-11 Step 1 and Step 10 salaries for each of the 54 federal pay areas. Click any locality to see the full 10-step breakdown.

Locality Area Adjustment Step 1 Step 5 Step 10
Alaska +29.78% $82,793 $93,830 $107,625 Full Table →
Albany-Schenectady, NY +20.03% $76,573 $86,780 $99,540 Full Table →
Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Las Vegas, NM +18.16% $75,380 $85,428 $97,989 Full Table →
Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA-AL +23.69% $78,908 $89,427 $102,575 Full Table →
Austin-Round Rock, TX +21.64% $77,600 $87,945 $100,875 Full Table →
Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL +18.33% $75,489 $85,551 $98,130 Full Table →
Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-ME +30.67% $83,361 $94,473 $108,363 Full Table →
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY +20.58% $76,924 $87,178 $99,996 Full Table →
Burlington-South Burlington, VT +19.36% $76,146 $86,296 $98,984 Full Table →
Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC +19.42% $76,184 $86,339 $99,034 Full Table →
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI +30.14% $83,023 $94,090 $107,924 Full Table →
Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN +21.54% $77,536 $87,872 $100,792 Full Table →
Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH +21.49% $77,505 $87,836 $100,750 Full Table →
Colorado Springs, CO +19.73% $76,382 $86,564 $99,291 Full Table →
Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH +21.80% $77,702 $88,060 $101,008 Full Table →
Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX +17.94% $75,240 $85,269 $97,806 Full Table →
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK +25.42% $80,012 $90,677 $104,010 Full Table →
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL +18.07% $75,323 $85,363 $97,914 Full Table →
Dayton-Springfield-Sidney, OH +20.49% $76,867 $87,113 $99,921 Full Table →
Denver-Aurora, CO-WY-NE-KS +29.03% $82,315 $93,287 $107,003 Full Table →
Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA +19.12% $75,993 $86,123 $98,785 Full Table →
Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI +27.22% $81,160 $91,979 $105,502 Full Table →
Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, PA +19.12% $75,993 $86,123 $98,785 Full Table →
Hartford-East Hartford, CT +28.80% $82,168 $93,121 $106,813 Full Table →
Hawaii +21.73% $77,658 $88,010 $100,949 Full Table →
Houston-The Woodlands, TX +34.15% $85,581 $96,989 $111,249 Full Table →
Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL +22.54% $78,174 $88,595 $101,621 Full Table →
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN +19.71% $76,369 $86,549 $99,274 Full Table →
Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS +19.66% $76,337 $86,513 $99,233 Full Table →
Laredo, TX +20.37% $76,790 $87,026 $99,822 Full Table →
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV +19.90% $76,490 $86,687 $99,432 Full Table →
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA +34.62% $85,881 $97,329 $111,639 Full Table →
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie, FL +24.94% $79,705 $90,330 $103,611 Full Table →
Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI +22.09% $77,887 $88,270 $101,248 Full Table →
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI +24.56% $79,463 $90,056 $103,296 Full Table →
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA +38.72% $88,496 $100,293 $115,039 Full Table →
Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA +18.07% $75,323 $85,363 $97,914 Full Table →
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL +18.55% $75,629 $85,710 $98,312 Full Table →
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD +26.39% $80,631 $91,379 $104,814 Full Table →
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ +21.26% $77,358 $87,670 $100,560 Full Table →
Pittsburgh, PA +20.21% $76,688 $86,911 $99,689 Full Table →
Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA +24.49% $79,418 $90,005 $103,238 Full Table →
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC +22.17% $77,938 $88,328 $101,314 Full Table →
Rest of United States +17.06% $74,678 $84,633 $97,077 Full Table →
Richmond, VA +21.01% $77,198 $87,489 $100,352 Full Table →
Sacramento-Roseville, CA +27.96% $81,632 $92,514 $106,116 Full Table →
San Antonio-New Braunfels-Pearsall, TX +20.88% $77,115 $87,395 $100,245 Full Table →
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA +30.63% $83,335 $94,444 $108,330 Full Table →
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA +46.34% $93,358 $105,802 $121,358 Full Table →
Seattle-Tacoma, WA +29.54% $82,640 $93,656 $107,426 Full Table →
St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL +19.44% $76,197 $86,354 $99,050 Full Table →
Tucson-Nogales, AZ +18.65% $75,693 $85,783 $98,395 Full Table →
Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC +22.03% $77,849 $88,226 $101,198 Full Table →
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA +33.94% $85,447 $96,837 $111,075 Full Table →

Other GS Pay Grades

GS-1 GS-2 GS-3 GS-4 GS-5 GS-6 GS-7 GS-8 GS-9 GS-10 GS-11 GS-12 GS-13 GS-14 GS-15

About GS-11 Federal Positions

GS-11 positions are mid-level professional roles requiring significant education or specialized experience. Federal employees at GS-11 often work as experienced analysts, specialists, engineers, or scientists. These positions typically involve independent work with moderate supervision and may include team coordination responsibilities.

In 2026, GS-11 base salary ranges from $63,795 (Step 1) to $82,929 (Step 10). With the highest locality adjustment in San Jose-San Francisco (46.34%), a GS-11 Step 10 can earn up to $121,358 annually. In the "Rest of US" locality area (17.06%), the range is $74,678 to $97,077.