What Is a GS Grade? Understanding Federal Pay Grades for Beginners

New to federal job searching? Here's a plain-English explanation of GS grades, how they determine your pay, and which grade you should target.

If you've ever browsed USAJobs, you've seen terms like GS-12, GS-13, and Step 1 everywhere. For anyone new to federal hiring, these numbers are confusing. Here's exactly what they mean.

What GS Stands For

GS stands for General Schedule — the pay system that covers most white-collar federal civilian employees. It was established to create a standardized, fair pay structure across hundreds of different agencies and job types.

Not every federal employee is on the GS scale. Some agencies have alternative pay systems (the VA for healthcare workers, the intelligence community, financial regulators), but the GS system covers the majority of federal positions.

The 15 GS Grades

The GS scale runs from GS-1 (entry level, minimal experience required) to GS-15 (senior specialist or manager level). Most professional positions start between GS-5 and GS-9.

GS-1 to GS-4: Administrative support, clerical, entry level GS-5 to GS-7: Entry professional, recent college graduates GS-9 to GS-11: Journey level, 2-5 years experience GS-12 to GS-13: Full performance, experienced professionals GS-14 to GS-15: Senior specialists and supervisors

The 10 Steps Within Each Grade

Each GS grade has 10 steps. Step increases come automatically with time in service — typically one step every 1-3 years depending on your current step. Steps represent pay raises within the same grade level.

A GS-12 Step 1 earns significantly less than a GS-12 Step 10, even though both are at grade 12.

How Locality Pay Changes Everything

Base GS pay is just the starting point. Locality pay is added on top based on where you work. The Washington DC area adds over 33% to base salary. San Francisco adds nearly 45%. Rest of US areas add around 16%.

This means the same GS-13 job can pay $115,000 in rural Georgia and $160,000 in San Francisco.

Which Grade Should You Target?

A general rule of thumb:

• Bachelor's degree, no experience: GS-5 or GS-7
• Master's degree or bachelor's with 1 year specialized experience: GS-9
• 3-5 years relevant experience: GS-11 to GS-12
• 5+ years senior experience: GS-13 and above

FedJobs shows GS grade and total estimated salary range including locality pay for every position — no decoder ring required.

Search federal jobs by grade at FedJobs.co.