Special rates for General Schedule positions: an overview

A special rate is a higher rate of basic pay OPM establishes for a group of General Schedule positions, by occupation, grade and location, where the regular GS rates leave an agency unable to recruit or keep staff. The tables are OPM's and are published only through its special rates application. No special rate table is mirrored on this site; the official source is OPM's Special Rate Tables.

What special rates are

OPM's Special Rates Requests page states: "The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may establish higher rates of basic pay-special rates-for a group or category of General Schedule (GS) positions in one or more geographic areas to address existing or likely significant handicaps in recruiting or retaining well-qualified employees. OPM may establish special rates for nearly any category of employee-i.e., by series, specialty, grade-level, and/or geographic area." The authority is 5 U.S.C. 5305, which lets OPM establish "higher minimum rates of pay" for a position or group of positions and "corresponding increases in all step rates of the pay range", up to 30 percent above the maximum rate of the grade; the rules are in 5 CFR part 530, subpart C.

OPM's General Schedule overview puts it in one sentence: "Because of serious difficulties in staffing certain occupations at GS grade levels in certain geographic areas, OPM may approve special rates which are higher than the normal GS rates." An employee covered by a special rate table is paid the higher of the special rate and the locality rate for the grade and step (5 U.S.C. 5305(h)); OPM's 2026 law enforcement officer page applies the same rule to LEOs, who "are entitled to the higher special rate" where one applies, and gives table 001M at GS-1 and GS-2 as its example.

Who sets them, and on what criteria

OPM establishes, adjusts and discontinues special rates; agencies request them through their headquarters. OPM's page lists the criteria from 5 CFR 530.304: OPM may establish special rates to address staffing problems caused by "significantly higher non-Federal pay rates than those payable by the Federal Government within the area, location, or occupational group involved; the remoteness of the area or location involved; the undesirability of the working conditions or nature of the work involved; or any other circumstances OPM considers appropriate." Requests "must include the information required by OPM's Worksheet for Special Rate Requests, Form 1397", and "must come to OPM through agency headquarters". When the GS tables change each January, 5 U.S.C. 5305(d) and 5 CFR 530.307 provide for OPM to review the special rate schedules and adjust them.

How to find a special rate table or a rate

1. Open OPM's Special Rate Tables. The application lists the tables for a year by occupational series, by table number (four characters, such as 001M or 0576), by agency and by location; each table page carries the grades and steps covered, the locations, the agencies and the authorising statement.
2. Match the position's series, grade and official duty station to a table's coverage; a position outside the listed locations or series is not covered, however close.
3. Compare the special rate with the GS locality rate for the same grade and step; the higher of the two is the rate of basic pay (5 U.S.C. 5305(h)). Table pages on OPM's site print the comparison for each cell.

Nothing on this site reproduces a special rate table or decides whether a position is covered; the GS and LEO tables here are the schedules a special rate is compared with.

Related

• The 2026 General Schedule and its locality tables, which a special rate is measured against.
• Law enforcement officer tables, with OPM's note on special rates.
• The Federal Wage System, which has its own special schedules under 5 CFR 532.