The 2026 federal pay raise has been officially confirmed, with General Schedule (GS) employees receiving a 1% across-the-board increase in basic pay. However, federal employees will not receive an additional increase in locality pay rates because the 2026 locality percentages remain at their 2025 levels. The changes took effect with the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
1% Increase for Federal Employees
Under Executive Order 14368, signed on December 18, 2025, the federal government implemented a 1% increase in basic pay for statutory pay systems, including the General Schedule. The new rates became effective January 11, 2026, based on the standard federal biweekly payroll cycle.
For GS employees, this means the base salary associated with each grade and step increased by approximately 1% compared with 2025.
For example, the 2026 base salary for GS-1 Step 1 is $22,584, while higher grades and steps receive corresponding increases under the new schedule.
No Additional Locality Pay Increase
One of the most important details of the 2026 adjustment is that locality pay percentages were not increased.
Locality pay is designed to account for differences in federal employee compensation across geographic areas. Instead of increasing those percentages for 2026, the government kept them at their 2025 levels. OPM says locality payments in 2026 range from 17.06% to 46.34% across 58 locality pay areas.
This means an employee’s total salary can still be substantially higher than the basic GS salary, depending on where they work, but there is no new locality percentage added on top of the 2025 rates.
What the 1% Raise Means for Your Paycheck
The actual dollar increase depends on your GS grade, step and locality area.
For a simplified example, an employee earning a $60,000 salary before the increase would receive roughly $600 more in annual gross pay from a 1% increase, before considering taxes, retirement contributions and other deductions.
Employees with higher salaries will generally see a larger dollar increase, while employees at lower grades will see a smaller increase.
When Did the New Pay Rates Start?
The 2026 federal pay schedules became effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2026. For the standard biweekly payroll schedule, that date was January 11, 2026.
Federal workers should therefore see the new rates reflected in applicable 2026 payroll statements.
Who Is Affected?
The 1% adjustment applies to the General Schedule and several other statutory federal pay systems. OPM also notes that certain law-enforcement and wildland-firefighter special rates received the 1% increase.
Some federal employees have different compensation rules. For example, certain senior executive and other pay systems are governed by separate statutory provisions and may not receive locality payments.
Bottom Line
The 2026 federal pay raise is a 1% across-the-board increase, but there is no additional locality pay boost. For most GS employees, this means a modest increase in gross salary while geographic locality percentages remain unchanged from 2025.
The final impact on an individual paycheck depends on the employee’s GS grade, step, locality area, deductions and taxes.
Final Word
The 2026 federal pay adjustment provides a 1% increase in basic GS pay, while locality pay rates remain frozen at their 2025 levels. For federal employees, the result is a modest boost in gross salary, but the size of the actual paycheck increase will depend on grade, step, locality and deductions. Overall, the 2026 change offers some additional income while falling short of a larger locality-based raise.
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