How much do federal jobs pay?

This might surprise a lot of people, but government jobs actually pay on a very competitive scale in comparison to the private sector!  When I left my corporate job for my current position with the G, I actually stepped down in terms of managerial responsibility, and received a (slight) pay increase as a result!

Here’s a link to the Office of Personnel Management’s latest pay scales for the General Service (GS) pay system, and it’s a good page to bookmark for future reference.  One thing you should know is that most positions will have what’s known as a “step increase” every year, so it’s almost like getting a pay raise based on longevity.  Once you’ve maxed out the upper range of your pay grade, the quickest way to gain additional income is to seek out positions with additional responsibilities.  Some jobs, especially those that don’t involve any kind of management, will have an upper pay range limit attached to them, such as GS-7 or GS-9.                               

You’ll also notice that the government’s pay scales are updated each year, and usually include some kind of cost-of-living increase.  While this is something that you definitely can’t count on receiving from one year to the next, it’s important to note that the G is actually one of the best employers when it comes to taking inflation and rising costs into consideration.  With this in mind, it’s no wonder that the federal government is one of the most sought-after employers!

One other thing you should be aware of is the adjustments for specific localities within the United States, which pay employees more if they’re assigned to work in a high-cost area.  While New York or Washington might immediately come to mind, the G also offers around 16% or so for “Rest of the US” areas that aren’t listed by specific city.  I didn’t realize this was the case when I started work, so getting this news was an unexpected windfall, almost like getting a pay raise in my first week!

So far I’ve only met a handful of people who’ve actually taken pay cuts to come on board with the government, but to be fair, those people were in pretty high-paying jobs before they decided they were ready for a change.  For me, when you factor in the salary along with the rest of the benefits, it came out to be a very competitive compensation package.  I’d recommend checking with your specific agency to be sure of exactly what they’re able to offer, but in my case, it’s definitely been fair pay for hard work.