What are total compensation and locality pay rates for ICE agents in 2025 by GS level?
Executive summary
Total compensation for ICE agents in 2025 depends on their GS grade, locality adjustments and law‑enforcement differentials: OPM’s 2025 GS base pay table (which incorporated a 1.7% increase) establishes base pay by grade and step, and OPM’s 2025 locality tables (including higher LEO locality rates for GS‑3 through GS‑10) determine location‑dependent increases [1] [2]. Public reporting and job postings show entry/some advertised ICE ranges roughly from the high‑$20ks (sources citing GS‑5 hires) through roughly $49,700–$89,500 for many ICE field vacancies, with Glassdoor and industry sites reporting averages and higher totals for experienced agents (e.g., ~$137k average on Glassdoor) and noting overtime or LEAP/AUO can add ~25% in practice [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. How federal GS pay works and why ICE pay varies by location
ICE agents are paid under the federal General Schedule system; OPM published the 2025 GS base pay table (with a 1.7% increase effective January 2025) that sets annual base pay by GS grade and step, and separate 2025 locality pay tables apply geographic adjustments to those base rates [1] [2]. For law‑enforcement occupations, OPM’s LEO locality/LEO pay tables apply and give higher locality rates for LEOs at grades GS‑3 through GS‑10; agencies and job announcements then combine base + applicable locality to set actual salaries at the duty station [2] [7].
2. Entry points reported by news and recruiting sites
Several outlets report different typical entry grades for ICE roles. News coverage and international press cite entry‑level ICE hires at GS‑5 in many public accounts (reporting figures like ≈$29,350), while other career guides and recruiting pages indicate many ICE hiring paths or investigator‑type positions begin at GS‑7 or had advertised ranges starting in the $48k range—reflecting real variation by job series and recruitment waves [3] [6] [5]. Job posting summaries on USAJOBS for ICE positions explicitly say the actual salary depends on the duty location and locality adjustments, underscoring that a posted range is not a single national number [8].
3. Mid‑career and senior totals: published averages and self‑reported data
Aggregate or crowd‑sourced sites show wide dispersion. Glassdoor’s compiled estimates report an average total pay for ICE Special Agents around $137,376 per year and a typical range (25th–75th percentiles) roughly $104k–$183k, reflecting senior and specialized investigator roles and including reported additional pay [4]. Industry and recruiting writeups state that ICE investigators can reach GS‑13 to GS‑15 levels with corresponding pay (research summaries cite GS‑15 up to ~$167,603) and that compensable overtime or LEAP-style premiums materially raise total compensation [6] [4].
4. Overtime, LEAP and other add‑ons that change "total compensation"
Multiple sources note ICE agents often receive extra statutory premiums. Law enforcement availability pay (LEAP), Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO) and overtime/FLSA mechanisms are cited as boosting pay—some reporting an additional ~25% is a common working assumption for law enforcement schedules or AUO allowances—so total compensation can exceed base + locality by a significant margin depending on assignment [6] [9]. Newsweek and USAJOBS reporting also mention recruitment bonuses, retention incentives and locality‑based differentials for specific job announcements as further additions [5] [8].
5. What the official OPM data provides — and what it doesn’t
OPM’s 2025 GS and LEO pay tables give the authoritative base and locality rates to compute exact pay for a given GS grade/step and duty station; those spreadsheets are the correct source if you need precise dollar amounts by GS level and locality [1] [2]. Available sources in this packet do not include a single ICE‑specific, by‑GS consolidated table that lists “total compensation by GS level for ICE agents in 2025.” If you want per‑grade, per‑locality dollar figures, OPM’s 2025 GS PDF and the OPM locality/LEO tables are the necessary primary documents [1] [2].
6. Conflicting signals and practical guidance for readers
Public reporting shows conflicting entry points (GS‑5 vs GS‑7) and wide ranges in advertised pay ($29k to ~$89k in some ads; Glassdoor averages much higher for experienced agents), reflecting: different ICE job series (criminal investigators vs. deportation officers vs. support roles), step within a grade, locality adjustments, and extra pay regimes like LEAP/AUO [3] [5] [4] [6]. For accuracy, consult the OPM 2025 GS pay table and the 2025 locality/LEO tables and combine those with the specific USAJOBS announcement for the ICE vacancy you’re evaluating [1] [2] [8].
Limitations: this analysis uses only the provided sources. Exact per‑GS, per‑locality totals for ICE agents in 2025 require applying OPM’s 2025 GS base table and the correct locality/LEO table to a given grade/step and then adding any applicable LEAP/AUO or bonuses; those raw OPM tables are cited here as the authoritative inputs [1] [2].