What percentage and dollar amounts are in the final 2026 federal pay raise for different General Schedule (GS) grades?
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Executive summary
The available reporting shows the 2026 federal pay action under the Trump alternative pay plan calls for a 1.0% across‑the‑board GS base pay increase for most General Schedule employees, with locality pay frozen at 2025 levels, while certain law‑enforcement categories receive larger base increases (3.8% total in several reports) and special rates will be published by OPM [1] [2] [3]. Multiple analyst sites estimated dollar impacts by grade or example (for instance, a GS‑13 earning $90,000 would get about $900 more annually under 1%); detailed official tables were not yet finalized in the sources [4] [5] [6].
1. What the proposal actually says — a modest 1% base increase and frozen locality
The Trump alternative pay plan in these reports directs a 1.0% increase to General Schedule basic pay for 2026 while freezing locality pay at 2025 levels; OPM anticipated publishing implementing tables and any special‑rate tables later in the calendar year [3] [1] [2]. FedSmith and other federal‑pay trackers consistently describe the plan as a 1% across‑the‑board base raise coupled with frozen locality adjustments [5] [1].
2. Dollar math: how that 1% maps into pay for different grades — examples, not official tables
Analysts translated 1% into straightforward dollar increases by multiplying existing base salaries by 0.01; for example coverage, publications show a GS‑13 earning roughly $90,000 would gain about $900 annually under a 1% raise, and lower grades receive correspondingly smaller dollar gains (hundreds of dollars) while higher‑paid steps see larger absolute increases [4] [7]. FederalPay and FedSmith published estimated 2026 GS pay tables reflecting a 1% bump for base pay, but they emphasize these are estimates and the official OPM table was not yet final in the cited material [6] [5].
3. Law enforcement exceptions and special rates — bigger percentage but details pending
Multiple outlets and OPM materials state certain federal law‑enforcement personnel are slated to receive a larger base increase (reported as 3.8% total in several summaries) and that OPM would issue special‑rate tables by year‑end with an effective date in January 2026 for those rates; exact grade/step dollar outcomes depend on later OPM listings and agency coverage decisions [3] [1] [2].
4. Why the percentage matters unevenly — locality freeze changes the effective outcome
Freezing locality pay at 2025 levels means employees in high‑locality areas (where locality can be a large percentage of base) lose the potential compounding boost from locality increases; publications note this produces a smaller effective pay gain for those employees than the simple 1% base increase suggests, and it particularly compresses growth for workers in high‑cost regions [1] [7]. Analysts warn that without locality adjustments, some employees see only the 1% base bump rather than a larger combined base+locality rise [1].
5. Sources disagree on whether the plan is final — legal and political caveats
News and specialist sites emphasize the plan is an Executive alternative pay plan and that Congress can alter pay decisions during appropriations; FedSmith and others underline the final OPM pay tables are issued after an Executive Order and implementation steps later in the year, so the 1% description reflects the administration’s announced plan rather than immutable final law [5] [1] [2]. Some outlets contrast this 1% plan with the Biden budget proposal that would have implemented no raise, showing political disagreement about appropriate federal pay policy [8].
6. What’s still missing in current reporting — where to look for exact grade/step dollar figures
OPM had not yet published final 2026 GS pay tables in the cited material; specialist sites created estimated tables by applying a 1% multiplier to 2025 base pay, but official step‑by‑step dollar values and the OPM special‑rate tables for law enforcement were described as forthcoming [6] [5] [2]. For definitive percentages and dollar amounts by grade and step, the OPM pay tables and the Executive Order implementing the pay decision are the primary documents to consult when released [2] [5].
7. Bottom line for federal employees — modest nominal gain, distributional effects matter
Under the reported plan, most GS employees receive a 1% base raise (small dollar amounts for lower grades, larger absolute dollars for higher paid steps), while selected law‑enforcement categories receive about 3.8% base increases and locality pay remains frozen — a combination that yields uneven real outcomes across grades and localities and leaves final step‑level dollar numbers dependent on the OPM tables due later [1] [3] [2].
Limitations: these conclusions rely solely on the cited news and OPM summaries; official, step‑by‑step dollar pay tables for 2026 were not present in these sources at the time of reporting [6] [2].