GS pay scale 2026, Houston: the 35.00% locality table for Houston-The Woodlands, TX.
OPM's 2026 General Schedule table for the Houston-The Woodlands, TX locality pay area, the counties OPM includes, and the area's locality payment since 2024.
In 2026, GS employees in the Houston-The Woodlands, TX locality pay area receive a 35.00% locality payment on top of the base table, so GS pay there runs from $30,488 (GS-1, step 1) to $197,200 (GS-15, step 10), the $197,200 limit OPM applies to locality rates; OPM caps 5 cells in this table. For comparison, GS-12 step 1 is $103,225 here and $89,508 in Rest of U.S. (17.06%). The 35.00% payment is unchanged from 2025.
2026 GS pay in Houston-The Woodlands, TX
Annual rates including the 35.00% locality payment.
| Grade | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9 | Step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS-1 | $30,488 | $31,510 | $32,524 | $33,534 | $34,545 | $35,138 | $36,141 | $37,151 | $37,193 | $38,135 |
| GS-2 | $34,281 | $35,096 | $36,233 | $37,193 | $37,608 | $38,714 | $39,820 | $40,925 | $42,031 | $43,137 |
| GS-3 | $37,406 | $38,653 | $39,901 | $41,148 | $42,395 | $43,643 | $44,890 | $46,138 | $47,385 | $48,632 |
| GS-4 | $41,989 | $43,389 | $44,789 | $46,189 | $47,589 | $48,989 | $50,389 | $51,789 | $53,189 | $54,589 |
| GS-5 | $46,979 | $48,545 | $50,111 | $51,677 | $53,243 | $54,809 | $56,375 | $57,941 | $59,507 | $61,073 |
| GS-6 | $52,368 | $54,113 | $55,859 | $57,605 | $59,350 | $61,096 | $62,841 | $64,587 | $66,332 | $68,078 |
| GS-7 | $58,193 | $60,133 | $62,073 | $64,013 | $65,953 | $67,893 | $69,833 | $71,773 | $73,713 | $75,653 |
| GS-8 | $64,446 | $66,594 | $68,742 | $70,890 | $73,038 | $75,186 | $77,333 | $79,481 | $81,629 | $83,777 |
| GS-9 | $71,181 | $73,555 | $75,928 | $78,301 | $80,675 | $83,048 | $85,421 | $87,795 | $90,168 | $92,541 |
| GS-10 | $78,386 | $80,999 | $83,611 | $86,223 | $88,835 | $91,448 | $94,060 | $96,672 | $99,284 | $101,897 |
| GS-11 | $86,123 | $88,995 | $91,866 | $94,738 | $97,609 | $100,481 | $103,352 | $106,223 | $109,095 | $111,966 |
| GS-12 | $103,225 | $106,666 | $110,107 | $113,549 | $116,990 | $120,431 | $123,872 | $127,313 | $130,754 | $134,195 |
| GS-13 | $122,749 | $126,841 | $130,932 | $135,024 | $139,116 | $143,208 | $147,300 | $151,392 | $155,484 | $159,575 |
| GS-14 | $145,052 | $149,888 | $154,724 | $159,559 | $164,395 | $169,231 | $174,066 | $178,902 | $183,738 | $188,573 |
| GS-15 | $170,618 | $176,306 | $181,994 | $187,681 | $193,369 | $197,200* | $197,200* | $197,200* | $197,200* | $197,200* |
* Rate limited to the rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5304(g)(1)).
Which locations OPM includes in Houston
OPM's 2026 definitions place these 19 locations in the Houston-The Woodlands, TX area (the same as in 2025):
TX: Austin County, Brazoria County, Chambers County, Colorado County, Fort Bend County, Galveston County, Grimes County, Harris County, Jackson County, Liberty County, Madison County, Matagorda County, Montgomery County, San Jacinto County, Trinity County, Walker County, Waller County, Washington County, Wharton County.
Houston locality pay, 2024 to 2026
| Year | Locality payment | Total increase (OPM) | GS-9 step 1 | GS-12 step 1 | GS-13 step 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 35.00% | 1% | $71,181 | $103,225 | $159,575 |
| 2025 | 35.00% | 1.91% | $70,477 | $102,203 | $157,996 |
| 2024 | 34.72% | 4.89% | $69,154 | $100,287 | $155,034 |
Houston: $71,181 at step 1.
Open →GS-11GS-11 in every localityHouston: $86,123 at step 1.
Open →GS-12GS-12 in every localityHouston: $103,225 at step 1.
Open →GS-13GS-13 in every localityHouston: $122,749 at step 1.
Open →Full tableGS pay scale 2026Base table and all locality areas.
Open →Free toolSalary to hourly calculatorConvert any annual rate at your own hours.
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Questions people ask
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How this page is built
Every pay figure on this page is copied from the General Schedule salary tables that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) publishes; TryHired does not estimate, average or project any rate. We checked every locality cell for 2024, 2025 and 2026 against OPM's base table times one plus the locality payment, rounded to the nearest dollar: all of them match, except the cells OPM limits to the Executive Schedule level IV rate, which OPM marks with an asterisk. Tables fetched from opm.gov on Nov 3, 2026.
- Your own pay: agencies set your grade and step, and some positions are paid from special rate tables or other pay systems that this page does not cover.
- Future tables: we publish a year's figures only after OPM posts that year's tables.
- Hourly, overtime and premium pay: OPM publishes these separately; this page shows annual rates only.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Salary Table 2026-HOU (public domain), fetched Nov 3, 2026.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Salary Table 2025-HOU (public domain), fetched Nov 3, 2026.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Salary Table 2024-HOU (public domain), fetched Nov 3, 2026.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Salary Table 2026-GS (public domain), fetched Nov 3, 2026.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2026 Locality Pay Area Definitions.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Within-Grade Increases fact sheet (public domain).