Compensation in Government

Government compensation is set by HR and varies by role and level.

How Compensation Is Established in Government

The Human Resource department is generally responsible for establishing and periodically reviewing the defined pay bands and benefits offerings according to government job classifications, market comparisons, and other factors. In some cases, an agency may want to use pay setting authorities for candidates that bring superior qualifications, or for roles that require special needs. As mentioned in the overview, your HR Partners can walk you through the total compensation offerings, flexibilities, and limitations in place, by role.

State and local government pay scales

State and local governments typically set pay through civil service pay scales. For example, here is how pay is set for graded civil service positions at the State of Maryland and for the State of Indiana. In most government agencies, salaries are budgeted each fiscal year and typically include an annual update to reflect Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA).

Federal government pay scales

For the majority of federal government jobs, salaries are set on the General Schedule, or GS pay scale. The GS pay scale uses locality and market data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and links experience and responsibility levels to a system of grades and steps (up to 10). Grades start at GS-1 and go to GS-15. Most digital and tech positions fall in the GS-9 to GS-15 range based on the level of experience and supervisory status.

Levels and Pay Ranges for Common Digital Service Roles

The following example is based on recent federal government postings. To demonstrate how the GS schedule works in a specific location, we chose the New York City Metro Region. A Digital Service Technologist in the federal government could include software engineers, data scientists, product managers, and user experience researchers, designers, and content strategists.

Position	Level	Locality	Salary Range
Digital Service Technologist	Early to Mid Level GS 9-12	NYC Metro	GS-9 Step 1 $70,448 to GS-12 Step 10 $132,807
Senior Digital Service Technologist	Senior Level GS 13-15	NYC Metro	GS-13 Step 1 $121,485 to GS-15 Step 10 $191,900

Source: Based on OPM 2024 General Schedule NYC Metro Region Locality Pay Table