GS Pay Scale 2027: Federal Pay Raise 2027, Pay Freeze and Next Steps

The 2027 federal pay raise has not been set. On August 26, 2026 the President sent Congress an alternative pay plan for January 2027, and on the civilian side it proposes that base pay and locality pay stay at their 2026 rates. The Office of Personnel Management describes that decision as a freeze of 2027 base and locality rates at 2026 levels for employees under the General Schedule and certain other pay systems.

There is no 2027 GS pay chart yet and no official GS pay raise 2027 figure, because the rates that take effect are set later in the year by executive order. Until then the 2026 tables on our GS pay scale page are the ones in force; the GS pay calculator turns a grade, step and locality area into a salary.

Every fact below comes from a primary document; where one is silent, this page says so. Updated September 14, 2026.

On this page

• Where the federal pay raise 2027 stands
• What the proposed pay freeze means for a 2027 paycheck
• What Congress has proposed
• How the raise is decided
• The law enforcement exception
• Across-the-board GS increases since 2011
• Questions people ask
• Related pay pages
• Sources and method

Federal pay raise 2027: where it stands

Three things decide General Schedule pay for January 2027 and only the first is done: the President has sent Congress a plan, Congress has bills setting a different number, and the rates that take effect are fixed by executive order, then printed in the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 5303(c)(2).

The letter is dated August 26, 2026 and covers civilian employees under the General Schedule and certain other pay systems, and members of the Armed Forces, in January 2027. It was printed as House Document 119-189 and referred jointly to committee on August 27, 2026. For 2027 there is no change to civilian base pay or locality pay, which stay at the 2026 rates. To do that it sets at zero the pay adjustment for the 2027 pay year under 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) and 5 U.S.C. 5304a.

The word most people use for this, freeze, is not the letter’s; it never uses it. It comes from OPM, whose 2027 special rates page records that the President issued an alternative pay plan on August 26, 2026 under 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) and 5 U.S.C. 5304a announcing to Congress a decision to freeze 2027 base and locality rates at 2026 levels.

Swipe sideways to see every column.

Undated rows have undated sources. The last row is the previous cycle, shown as a precedent: the letter names no December date and says nothing about an executive order.

What the proposed pay freeze means for a 2027 paycheck

The proposed federal pay freeze 2027 is one decision in one document. If the plan holds, a General Schedule employee’s 2027 rate of basic pay is the 2026 rate. The letter moves two levers and sets both to zero: the section 5303(b) adjustment that drives the base schedule and the section 5304a adjustment that drives locality pay, so the 2026 tables on our GS pay scale page stay in force. Its own case is put in figures: locality pay would otherwise increase by an average of 20.6 percent, costing $26 billion in the first year, with a further across-the-board increase of 3.1 percent for the base General Schedule. That is what the plan displaces.

What the letter does not say

It says nothing about within-grade increases. The term within-grade, the phrase step increase and the bare word step each occur in it zero times. The silence cuts both ways: the plan neither preserves step increases nor removes them. They sit at 5 U.S.C. 5335, headed Periodic step-increases, which this letter does not touch.

There is a precedent, built differently. Public Law 111-322 barred any statutory pay adjustment otherwise taking effect between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012, and Public Law 113-6 moved that end date to December 31, 2013, an extension OPM dates to March 26, 2013. That Act suspended adjustments required under section 5303, 5304, 5304a, 5318, or 5343(a) of title 5; section 5335 is not on that list and is referenced nowhere in the Act. OPM told agencies the same in CPM 2010-24: pay adjustments not covered by the freeze include promotion increases, within-grade step increases, and other similar individually-based pay increases.

Two qualifications. First, 2011 to 2013 was written into a statute, while the 2027 proposal is an alternative pay plan sent under 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) — different instruments, so the 2010 guidance describes the earlier freeze, not this one. Second, a within-grade increase has never been automatic: OPM has stated that the payment of within-grade increases should never be viewed as automatic or routine, and an agency must first find the employee performing at an acceptable level of competence, under 5 U.S.C. 5335 and 5 CFR part 531, subpart D.

What Congress has proposed

Congress has a competing proposal, a bill in both chambers cited as the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act, or FAIR Act: S. 3823, introduced on February 10, 2026 by Mr. Schatz, and H.R. 7480, introduced the same day by Mr. Walkinshaw.

Both are titled at 4.1 percent: an increase in the rates of pay under the statutory pay systems and for prevailing rate employees. The operative sections divide that title figure. Section 2(a) provides that for calendar year 2027 the percentage adjustment under section 5303 of title 5 shall be 3.1 percent; section 3 provides that for calendar year 2027 the percentage adjustment under section 5304 shall be an increase of 1 percent. So the title figure of 4.1 percent is a 3.1 percent base increase plus 1 percent locality, added together.

The 2019 precedent, start to finish

A proposed zero has been overridden before. On August 30, 2018 the President transmitted an alternative plan for civilian federal employees under the General Schedule and certain other pay systems in January 2019, determining that both across-the-board pay increases and locality pay increases for that year would be set at zero. It was printed as House Document 115-149. Executive Order 13856, signed December 28, 2018, carried it into effect: OPM later recorded that the order provided that 2019 rates for the schedules it covered would remain at 2018 levels.

Congress then legislated otherwise. In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 it provided that the adjustment under section 5303 of title 5 taking effect in fiscal year 2019 would be an increase of 1.4 percent, and the overall average under sections 5304 and 5304a an increase of 0.5 percent. Executive Order 13866 of March 28, 2019, Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay, set the rates as adjusted under 5 U.S.C. 5303 and section 748 of title VII of division D of that Act, superseding Executive Order 13856.

The number usually attached to 2019 is 1.9 percent, and it is OPM’s, not the statute’s: the Act says 1.4 plus 0.5. In its notice on the January 2019 pay schedules OPM put the executive order at an overall average pay increase of 1.9 percent for the statutory pay systems, recorded that Schedule 1 reflects a 1.4 percent increase from 2018, and noted that it was retroactive.

How the 2027 federal pay raise is decided

Federal pay law starts from a default, which is why a letter has to be written at all. Under 5 U.S.C. 5303(a) rates of basic pay for each statutory pay system are increased effective as of the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1 of each calendar year, by a percentage tied to the Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries, private industry workers, published quarterly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (5 U.S.C. 5302(2)).

That default can be displaced. Where, because of national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare, the President should consider the subsection (a) adjustment inappropriate, subsection (b)(1)(A) requires a plan for alternative pay adjustments to be transmitted to Congress before September 1 of the previous calendar year — which is why these letters arrive in the last days of August. The decision then leaves the President’s hands twice: Congress can legislate a different figure, and the rates become real only when an executive order sets them, whereupon 5 U.S.C. 5303(c)(2) requires that they shall be printed in the Federal Register.

Every date here comes from the document itself. December appears twice, both times as a precedent.

The law enforcement exception

One group is treated differently. The letter records that OPM has been directed to use its statutory authority so that law enforcement personnel receive a 3.8 percent increase in 2027 compensation, and calls that part of a separate process from the establishment of the plan. OPM’s page is headed 2027 Special Rates for Certain Law Enforcement Personnel; the scope word is OPM’s own, certain. OPM will use its special salary rate authority under 5 U.S.C. 5305 and 5 CFR 530, subpart C, after consulting with affected agencies.

Who is covered is not settled. OPM will consult with affected agencies to identify the law enforcement positions covered by the 2027 special rates; unlike the 2026 rates, which applied to specified categories of front-line law enforcement personnel, the President has directed a broader approach for 2027, unquantified; and coverage will be announced when the 2027 special rate tables are issued.

OPM anticipates releasing new special rate tables by the end of the calendar year, with a tentative effective date of January 10, 2027. Both hedges are its own: it anticipates, and the date is tentative. That line is about the special rate tables and nothing else: the page says nothing about the 2027 General Schedule tables, and the phrase 2027 General Schedule does not occur on it.

The increase is also capped: section 5305 provides that no rate may be established under it in excess of the rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule, which OPM gives as $197,200, and the cap will reduce the increase in some limited circumstances. CPM 2025-25 of December 31, 2025 records the same $197,200 as the 2026 limit, and announced schedules effective on January 11, 2026 providing a 3.8 percent increase over 2025 pay rates for employees who, OPM says, will continue to be covered in 2027.

None of this contradicts the proposal, because it runs on a different section. The phrase law enforcement does not occur anywhere in 5 U.S.C. 5303, which the plan works through; the increase runs under 5 U.S.C. 5305, headed Special pay authority.

Across-the-board GS increases, 2011 to 2026

Neither a freeze nor a very small raise would be new. The column below is the across-the-board General Schedule increase exactly as OPM printed it in the header of its own salary table for that year, not a locality average.

Rates frozen at 2010 levels is OPM’s own wording, printed in the header for 2011, 2012 and 2013; that run came from a statute, not from a plan sent to Congress. Archived OPM salary tables: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.

GS Pay Scale 2027: questions people ask

What is the OPM pay scale for 2027?

There is not one yet. No 2027 General Schedule tables have been published and OPM has issued no 2027 pay guidance to agencies. The scale in force is the 2026 one, which the letter proposes to keep; it is on our GS pay scale page.

When will the 2027 GS pay tables be released?

No release date has been published. The record supports a pattern, not a promise: the previous plan was issued on August 28, 2025 and the implementing executive order signed on December 18, 2025, after which 5 U.S.C. 5303(c)(2) requires the rates of basic pay taking effect to be printed in the Federal Register. Treat December as a precedent, not a date: the 2027 letter names no December date.

Do step increases still happen during a pay freeze?

In the 2011 to 2013 freeze they did: OPM guidance at the time stated that pay adjustments not covered by the freeze include promotion increases, within-grade step increases, and other similar individually-based pay increases. But the 2027 proposal is a different instrument and is silent on the subject, and a within-grade increase is never automatic: OPM has stated that the payment of within-grade increases should never be viewed as automatic or routine, and an acceptable level of competence determination is required first, under 5 U.S.C. 5335 and 5 CFR part 531, subpart D.

Does the proposed freeze cover locality pay?

Yes. The letter proposes that locality pay as well as base pay stay at 2026 levels, setting the 2027 pay year adjustment to zero under both 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) and 5 U.S.C. 5304a. OPM describes the same decision as a freeze of 2027 base and locality rates at 2026 levels.

Is the 2027 federal pay raise final?

No. A plan transmitted to Congress is a proposal; rates take effect only when an executive order sets them, and Congress can enact a different figure first. It did after the previous zero proposal, enacting an increase of 1.4 percent under section 5303 and an overall average of 0.5 percent under sections 5304 and 5304a, implemented by Executive Order 13866.

What does the letter propose for military pay?

The letter proposes a 2027 monthly basic pay increase for members of the Armed Forces of 7.0 percent for grades E1 to E5, 6.0 percent for grades E6 to O3, and 5.0 percent for grades O4 and above, subject to the caps established by 37 U.S.C. 203, which is military pay and not General Schedule pay.

Does this page cover SES pay?

No. This page carries General Schedule figures only. The 2027 letter covers civilian employees under the General Schedule and certain other pay systems, and members of the Armed Forces, in January 2027. For SES ranges see our Senior Executive Service page; for GS-15, our GS pay scale page.

Related pay pages

• GS pay scale — the base table and every locality table, in force while the proposal is outstanding.
• GS pay calculator — grade, step and locality in, salary out.
• Senior Executive Service — SES and Executive Schedule pay ranges.
• Federal holidays — observed dates and holiday premium pay.

Sources and method

Every figure and date above came from one of these documents, each kept so the wording can be rechecked. No number here comes from a news report.

• House Document 119-189, the 2027 alternative pay plan.
• OPM, 2027 Special Rates for Certain Law Enforcement Personnel, with CPM 2025-25.
• Title 5, U.S. Code: 5302, 5303, 5305, 5335.
• FAIR Act text: S. 3823, H.R. 7480.
• 2019: the 2018 letter, House Document 115-149, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, Executive Order 13866, OPM on the January 2019 pay schedules.
• The 2011 freeze: Public Law 111-322, Public Law 113-6, CPM 2010-24, CPM 2013-05, OPM on within-grade increases.
• OPM, January 2026 pay schedules, plus sixteen salary tables.

Updated September 14, 2026. Primary documents: House Document 119-189; OPM on 2027 special rates; CPM 2025-25; 5 U.S.C. 5302, 5303, 5305 and 5335; S. 3823 and H.R. 7480; the 2019 chain from House Document 115-149 to Executive Order 13866; Public Laws 111-322 and 113-6 with CPM 2010-24; and sixteen OPM salary tables. Maintained in place, and rewritten when the 2027 rates are set.