Will Your Next Federal Step or Grade Add Money in 2026?
Check base, locality, and the pay cap before you count on a step or grade increase.
The base raise is the smallest number
I have written promotion cases and lost some, usually because the evidence ignored the pay table. The 2026 General Schedule base pay raise is 1.0 percent, effective January 11, 2026. That number is real, but it is not the whole raise.
Pull the base number from the GS salary table for your current grade and step. Then pull the base number for the proposed grade or step. You should have two plain numbers, not a narrative. If the proposed base is lower than you expected, the rest of the check still matters. A grade change can look strong on paper and still produce a small base move. A step change can look modest and still matter more once locality is applied.
Write the base numbers in the same format. When the proposed grade has a lower step, the base may not rise as much as the title suggests. When the proposed step is a within-grade increase, the base move may be small. Put both numbers in the case before you move to locality.
Locality can outrank the grade
Multiply the base by your locality rate before you call it a raise. The next number is the locality-adjusted total. If you are a law enforcement officer in GS-3 through GS-10, use the higher locality rate your position carries. The top published locality in 2026 was San Jose-San Francisco, at 46.34 percent above base. A GS-13 Step 5 in that region earned $150,775, while the same grade and step in the Rest of U.S. earned $120,718. The gap was $30,057.
The mistake is ignoring locality. A small base move can become large when the locality premium is high. A large base move can shrink when the locality premium is low. The org chart matters here, because the same title can sit in different localities.
Locality is where the pay table changes. A different locality can alter the pay table even if the grade does not. Put the locality rate in the evidence with the base numbers.
The cap can erase the step
Cap the total at the ceiling before you trust the table. The capped total is the third number, and it may equal the second. The 2026 ceiling for total General Schedule pay, including base and locality, was $197,200. In San Jose, a GS-15 Step 10 employee lost $43,158 per year because the ceiling limited total pay. In the DC locality, the five step increases from Step 6 to Step 10 all produced the same capped total, so within-grade advancement added no money.
The warning is simple: do not read a step increase as a raise when the total is already capped. A grade increase can do the same thing. The human part is awkward, because the employee still earned the step. The money did not follow. That is why the capped total belongs in the promotion case, not just the base table.
The cap limits the total. Once the total touches it, further base or step increases do not raise the total. The employee still gets the step. The grade still comes with it. The paycheck may not. In a promotion case, that distinction matters. A reviewer should see the capped total, not just the step increase.
The comparison is the real raise
Compare the before and after totals. The final result is a dollar difference, not a title change. If the after total is unchanged, the step or grade adds no money. If it rises, the rise comes from base and locality, limited by the cap. A lateral move can be worth more than a grade increase when the locality is higher. Keep the three numbers in your file: base, locality-adjusted total, and capped total. If the capped total does not move, say so in the case.
Make the comparison explicit. Put the before total and the after total side by side. If the difference is zero, the move is not a pay raise. A small difference may still be worth it for title, scope, or future eligibility. A large difference makes the pay case easier. Show the math in the case so the reviewer can check it.