General Schedule Pay Grades

• General Schedule pay grades set the salaries of more than 1.2 million federal employees in the U.S. and in duty stations around the world. A GS-1, step 1 employee is the lowest pay grade, while a GS-15, step 10 is the highest. GS salaries are comprised of a base salary and a locality adjustment to account for the cost of living.
  
  

GS-13 Base Salaries

• The U.S. Office of Personnel Management General Schedule pay scales for 2011 set the base salaries at $71,674 for a GS-13, step 1 employee to $93,175 for a GS-13, step 10.
  
  

GS-13 Locality Adjustments

• The locality adjustment for federal employees ranges from an increase of 4.72 percent over the base salary for employees in Alaska and Hawaii to a maximum locality adjustment of 35.15 percent in San Francisco.
  
  

Overall Salary Range of a GS-13

• According to 2011 federal pay scales, a GS-13, step 1 employee in Alaska or Hawaii earns $83,472, while a step 10 earns $108,512. A GS-13 employee in San Francisco earns $96,867 as a step 1 and $125,926 at the step 10 level.