Executive Schedule pay rates 2026: Level I through Level V

Last Updated: March 1, 2026 Reading Time: 5 min

The Executive Schedule covers the highest-ranking federal officials: Cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries, inspectors general, assistant secretaries. Most GS employees never look at it.

One number in that schedule does affect your paycheck, though. Level IV, at $197,200 in 2026, is the hard ceiling on every locality-adjusted GS salary in the country.

Here are all five levels, who holds each one, and what the schedule means for GS employees.

Key takeaways

• The 2026 Executive Schedule runs from Level I at $253,100 (Cabinet secretaries) down to Level V at $184,900 (agency administrators).
• Level IV ($197,200) is the GS pay cap by statute. No locality-adjusted GS salary can exceed it.
• Political appointees are paid under frozen rates, not the official rates. Cabinet secretaries receive approximately $203,500, not $253,100.
• Executive Schedule officials receive no locality pay, yet GS employees capped at Level IV cannot exceed what those officials earn.
• The SES pay band runs $151,661 to $228,000, anchored directly to Executive Schedule levels.

2026 Executive Schedule pay rates: the full table

These are the official rates effective January 2026, as published by OPM in Salary Table 2026-EX.

Level	2026 Official Rate	Who holds this level
Level I	$253,100	Cabinet secretaries (21 statutory positions)
Level II	$228,000	Deputy secretaries, major independent agency heads
Level III	$209,600	Under secretaries, mid-size agency heads
Level IV	$197,200	Assistant secretaries, inspectors general, CFOs, GCs
Level V	$184,900	Administrators, commissioners, associate administrators

These rates took effect the first full pay period of January 2026, following the December 2025 executive order implementing a 1% pay adjustment.

Who earns each level

Level I ($253,100) covers the 21 Cabinet-level positions defined by 5 U.S.C. § 5312 - Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, and 17 others.

Level II ($228,000) goes to deputy secretaries of Cabinet departments and heads of major independent agencies: the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the NASA Administrator, the TSA Administrator.

Level III ($209,600) covers under secretaries and heads of mid-size independent agencies, including the GSA Administrator, the SBA Administrator, and multiple Under Secretaries at USDA.

Level IV ($197,200) is the largest level by count, with 346 statutory positions under 5 U.S.C. § 5315. Assistant secretaries across departments, inspectors general, chief financial officers, and the IRS Commissioner all sit here.

Level V ($184,900) covers administrators, commissioners, and associate administrators of smaller programs: the Archivist of the United States, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, seven NASA Associate Administrators.

Official rates vs. frozen political appointee rates

There are two sets of Executive Schedule rates, and most news coverage mixes them up.

Level	Official Rate	Frozen Payable Rate	Difference
I	$253,100	$203,500	-$49,600
II	$228,000	$183,100	-$44,900
III	$209,600	$168,400	-$41,200
IV	$197,200	$158,500	-$38,700
V	$184,900	$148,500	-$36,400

Political appointees in EX positions - Cabinet secretaries, agency heads, senior political officials - are subject to a pay freeze enacted under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 and extended annually. A single 1.9% adjustment was made in 2019. The frozen rates have been essentially static since.

Career executives are not frozen. The broader SES workforce uses the official EX rates as pay caps.

The GS pay cap uses the official Level IV rate ($197,200), not the frozen rate. If you are a career employee, the official schedule is what applies to you.

When news outlets report that a Cabinet secretary "earns $203,500," they are citing the frozen payable rate. When OPM publishes $253,100, that is the official statutory rate. Both numbers are correct; they apply to different people.

The GS pay cap: why Level IV is the number that matters

Under 5 U.S.C. § 5304(g)(1), a GS employee's locality-adjusted rate of pay may not exceed Level IV of the Executive Schedule.

Your base pay plus locality pay cannot exceed $197,200 in 2026.

Here is what that looks like for a GS-15, Step 10 employee in San Francisco:

Calculation	Amount
GS-15 Step 10 base pay (2026)	$164,301
San Francisco locality rate	46.34%
Theoretical locality-adjusted salary	$240,337
Actual pay (capped at Level IV)	$197,200
Annual loss to the cap	$43,137

Roughly 98 grade/step combinations across the GS pay scale hit this cap. About 37 of 58 locality pay areas have at least one grade and step at the ceiling. In the DC area (33.94% locality), GS-15 employees hit the cap at Step 7 and above.

For more on how the cap affects retirement calculations and which grade/step combinations are affected in your locality, see the GS pay cap guide.

Use the GS Pay Calculator to check whether your grade, step, and locality hit the $197,200 ceiling.

Why Executive Schedule employees receive no locality pay

By statute, Executive Schedule officials, SES members, and equivalent positions are excluded from locality pay adjustments, regardless of where they are stationed.

GS employees do receive locality pay, ranging from 17.06% to 46.34% in 2026. But that locality-boosted pay cannot exceed what EX officials earn with no locality adjustment at all. That compression is intentional by statute, and it is why high-grade GS employees in expensive cities lose tens of thousands of dollars annually to the cap.

SES: the pay layer between GS and Executive Schedule

The Senior Executive Service is the career leadership tier of the federal government, with roughly 8,000 members. SES pay uses a band anchored directly to Executive Schedule rates.

SES element	2026 Amount	Basis
Minimum pay	$151,661	120% of GS-15 Step 1
Maximum (non-certified agency)	$209,600	EX Level III
Maximum (certified agency)	$228,000	EX Level II

One figure catches most GS employees off guard: the SES minimum ($151,661) is lower than the GS pay cap ($197,200). A GS-15 at Step 10 in a capped locality earns more than the SES floor. The upside of SES is the higher ceiling - $209,600 or $228,000 - and performance-based pay adjustments rather than automatic step increases. Neither the SES minimum nor maximum includes locality pay.

5-year Executive Schedule history

Year	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV (GS cap)	Level V
2026	$253,100	$228,000	$209,600	$197,200	$184,900
2025	$250,600	$225,700	$207,500	$195,200	$183,100
2024	$246,400	$221,900	$204,000	$191,900	$180,000
2023	$235,600	$212,100	$195,000	$183,500	$172,100
2022	$226,300	$203,700	$187,300	$176,300	$165,300

The GS cap rose 11.9% over five years, from $176,300 in 2022 to $197,200 in 2026. The 2023 and 2024 jumps (4%+) came from larger GS pay raises under those administrations. The 2025 and 2026 increases returned to lower single-digit figures.

Source: OPM Executive Schedule salary tables 2022 through 2026.

Calculate your federal pay

Use the GS Pay Calculator to enter your grade, step, and locality area and see whether your salary hits the $197,200 Level IV cap.

For the broader GS pay system, including how base pay and locality rates are structured, the GS Pay Guide 2026 has the full reference.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 2026 Executive Schedule pay rates for all five levels?

The official 2026 rates are: Level I $253,100 (Cabinet secretaries), Level II $228,000 (deputy secretaries and major agency heads), Level III $209,600 (under secretaries), Level IV $197,200 (assistant secretaries, inspectors general), and Level V $184,900 (administrators and commissioners). These took effect January 2026 per OPM Salary Table 2026-EX.

Why does Executive Schedule Level IV matter to regular GS employees?

Level IV ($197,200 in 2026) is the statutory GS pay cap. No matter how high a GS employee's locality-adjusted salary would be, it cannot exceed this amount. The cap affects GS-15 employees in roughly 37 of 58 locality areas and GS-14 employees at the highest steps in San Francisco.

Do Executive Schedule employees receive locality pay?

No. By statute (5 U.S.C. § 5304), Executive Schedule officials, SES members, and equivalent positions do not receive locality pay. GS employees receive locality pay, but their total compensation is capped at the EX Level IV rate - meaning they cannot exceed the salary of officials who receive no locality boost at all.

Why are Cabinet secretaries sometimes reported as earning less than $253,100?

Two separate rates exist: the official rate set by the annual executive order, and a lower frozen payable rate for political appointees under annual appropriations legislation. The freeze has run since 2014. In 2026, frozen rates run from roughly $148,500 (Level V) to $203,500 (Level I). Career employees use the official rates; political appointees use the frozen rates.

How does SES pay compare to the Executive Schedule in 2026?

SES runs from $151,661 to $228,000 (certified agencies) or $209,600 (non-certified). The minimum equals 120% of GS-15 Step 1. The maximums equal EX Level II or Level III depending on performance appraisal certification. SES members receive no locality pay.

Related resources

• GS Pay Cap Explained 2026: How the $197,200 cap affects your High-3, locality, and retirement math
• GS Pay Guide 2026: Full reference for base pay, locality tables, and step increases
• OPM Maximum GS Pay Limitations Fact Sheet: The official statutory rule behind the Level IV cap