TSA Pay Scale 2026: Pay Bands, GS Equivalent, Locality and Salary
TSA salary information can be confusing because candidates often see SV pay bands, General Schedule (GS) equivalents, locality percentages, hourly rates, annual salaries and promotion potential in the same job announcement. These figures are related, but they do not all mean the same thing.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) uses the Transportation Security Compensation Plan rather than placing every employee directly on the standard GS scale. However, the GS system remains important because TSA announcements use GS grades for some qualification comparisons and because the official GS tables provide a useful federal salary reference.
This guide explains how both systems work, how to read a TSA vacancy correctly and which parts of the advertised compensation you should verify before accepting an offer.
TSA Pay Scale 2026: Quick Facts
| Topic | What you should know |
|---|---|
| Main TSA pay system | Transportation Security Compensation Plan using SV bands for many positions |
| Standard GS placement | TSA employees are not automatically placed on the ordinary GS scale |
| 2026 GS increase | The official base table incorporates a 1% General Schedule increase |
| GS-5 base range | $34,799 to $45,239 before locality pay |
| GS-15 base range | $126,384 to $164,301 before locality pay |
| Common TSO entry band | Current public announcements commonly advertise SV-D |
| Qualification comparison | Current TSO announcements describe SV-D as equivalent to GS-5/6 for qualification purposes |
| Promotion potential | Some current TSO announcements list promotion potential to SV-F |
| 2026 locality range shown here | 17.06% for Rest of U.S. to 46.34% for San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland |
| Controlling salary figure | The current vacancy announcement and your final offer |
Do not convert an SV band into a GS salary by matching one letter to one grade. A statement such as “SV-D, equivalent to GS-5/6” describes the qualification level in current TSO announcements; it does not create a universal salary conversion table.
Does TSA Use the GS Pay Scale or SV Pay Bands?
TSA uses its own SV pay-band system for many security, professional and administrative positions. A band covers a salary range rather than one fixed amount. Your actual salary can depend on the occupation, duty station, appointment type, work schedule, experience, pay-setting rules, promotion status and authorized incentives.
The General Schedule still matters for three practical reasons:
- Qualification comparisons: current Transportation Security Officer announcements can describe SV-D as equivalent to GS-5/6 when explaining the experience or education needed to qualify.
- Federal salary comparisons: the GS tables provide transparent grades, steps and locality rates that help you understand the wider federal pay system.
- Career research: TSA candidates frequently compare an SV vacancy with federal positions advertised under GS grades.
Use the GS figures as a reference, not as a promise. An employee in SV-D is not automatically paid the same amount as one specific GS-5 or GS-6 step.
2026 OPM General Schedule Reference Ranges
The following figures come from the official 2026 Office of Personnel Management (OPM) base table. They are retained because the GS scale is important to candidates comparing federal salaries, but they are not an official TSA band-conversion chart.
| GS reference grade | Step 1 base salary | Step 10 base salary |
|---|---|---|
| GS-5 | $34,799 | $45,239 |
| GS-7 | $43,106 | $56,039 |
| GS-9 | $52,727 | $68,549 |
| GS-11 | $63,795 | $82,938 |
| GS-12 | $76,463 | $99,404 |
| GS-13 | $90,925 | $118,204 |
| GS-14 | $107,446 | $139,684 |
| GS-15 | $126,384 | $164,301 |
These figures are base salaries before locality pay. The official 2026 GS table incorporates a 1% increase effective January 2026.
What Do GS Steps Mean?
The GS system contains ten steps within each grade. A step represents a rate of pay within that grade. TSA’s SV system is different, so you should not assume that an SV employee follows the same waiting periods or receives the same increases as a GS employee.
For TSA employees, progression depends on the applicable compensation policy, position, training or certification requirements, performance and official personnel actions. Read the TSA pay progression guide before interpreting a vacancy’s promotion potential.
How Does Locality Pay Affect the Salary?
Locality pay adjusts federal compensation according to the official duty station. The 2026 OPM percentages below correct several outdated values that appeared in older salary guides.
| Locality area | 2026 locality payment |
|---|---|
| San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland | 46.34% |
| New York-Newark | 37.95% |
| Houston-The Woodlands | 35.00% |
| Washington-Baltimore-Arlington | 33.94% |
| Seattle-Tacoma | 31.57% |
| Rest of U.S. | 17.06% |
Two TSA vacancies using the same SV band can display different salary ranges because of locality, airport-specific pay treatment, recruitment incentives, retention incentives or other authorized factors.
When a vacancy states that its salary range already includes locality pay, do not add the locality percentage a second time. Doing so will produce an inflated estimate that does not match the offer.
Example: New York Locality Pay
Using the official GS table only as a mathematical reference, the 2026 GS-5 Step 1 base salary of $34,799 becomes $48,005 under the New York-Newark table, which applies a 37.95% locality payment.
At Step 10, the GS-5 base salary of $45,239 becomes $62,407. These are official GS figures, not guaranteed TSA starting salaries.
Example: San Francisco Locality Pay
The 2026 GS-9 Step 1 base salary of $52,727 becomes $77,161 under the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland table, which applies a 46.34% locality payment.
Again, this illustrates locality within the GS system. It does not replace the salary range stated in a TSA vacancy.
What Is a Current TSO Salary Example?
A current public TSO announcement checked on July 26, 2026 advertised:
- Pay scale and grade: SV-D
- Annual salary: $46,105 to $56,844
- Promotion potential: SV-F
- Appointment: permanent
- Schedule: part-time
The same announcement described SV-D as equivalent to GS-5/6 for qualification purposes. This is a useful current example, but it is not a nationwide TSA salary table. Another airport can advertise a different range even when the position is also SV-D.
Current and recent announcements also show why the headline annual range requires careful reading. A vacancy may be part-time while displaying an annualized range, may include locality already, or may contain a temporary incentive that is not part of permanent basic pay.
How Should You Read a TSA Vacancy Salary?
Review the announcement in this order:
- Pay scale and grade: identify the SV band or other pay system.
- Salary range: record the published minimum and maximum.
- Promotion potential: check whether the position can potentially progress to a higher band.
- Duty location: confirm which airport or office determines locality treatment.
- Work schedule: identify whether the position is full-time, part-time, intermittent or offered under multiple schedules.
- Detailed salary paragraph: look for locality, hourly equivalents and airport-specific calculations.
- Incentives: separate sign-on, recruitment and retention payments from recurring basic salary.
- Premium-pay eligibility: check whether the job may involve nights, Sundays, holidays or overtime.
- Final offer: confirm the actual starting salary and conditions before making financial decisions.
Do not resign from another job, relocate or make a major financial commitment based only on the maximum salary shown in an announcement. The maximum may represent later progression, a higher position within the band or compensation that includes a conditional incentive.
How Do SV-D, SV-E and SV-F Progression Work?
Current public TSO announcements commonly advertise entry at SV-D, and some list promotion potential to SV-F. Promotion potential means that the position can potentially progress under the applicable TSA rules without the announcement listing every future salary in advance.
It does not guarantee:
- a promotion on one universal date;
- immediate placement at the maximum of the next band;
- progression when training, certification or performance requirements are not met;
- the same increase at every airport;
- continued payment of a temporary incentive.
A TSO can also compete for positions such as Lead Transportation Security Officer, Supervisory Transportation Security Officer or Transportation Security Manager. Selection for a lead or supervisory vacancy is different from routine progression in the original position.
Your final offer establishes the starting salary. After appointment, your Standard Form 50 (SF-50) and subsequent personnel actions document your official pay status.
Can Premium Pay Increase TSA Earnings?
Yes. Airport operations can require nights, weekends, federal holidays, split shifts and overtime. Eligible employees may receive additional compensation, but entitlement depends on their official schedule, coverage, authorization and applicable rules.
Under general federal Title 5 principles:
- Night pay is generally a 10% differential for eligible regularly scheduled night work.
- Sunday premium pay is generally 25% of basic pay for eligible regularly scheduled, non-overtime Sunday work.
- Holiday premium pay generally adds an amount equal to basic pay for eligible holiday hours actually worked.
- Overtime is not always calculated as a simple 1.5 times the ordinary hourly rate; the calculation can depend on Fair Labor Standards Act and Title 5 coverage.
Premium pay can increase gross earnings, but it does not automatically move an employee to a higher SV band. Review the detailed TSA overtime and premium pay guide.
What Will Be Deducted From a TSA Paycheck?
The salary in a vacancy is gross compensation, not the amount deposited into your bank account. Possible deductions include:
- federal, state or local income-tax withholding;
- Social Security and Medicare withholding for covered employees;
- Federal Employees Retirement System contributions;
- Thrift Savings Plan contributions;
- health, dental, vision and life-insurance elections;
- flexible spending accounts;
- union dues or other authorized deductions.
For 2026, the employee Social Security withholding rate is generally 6.2% on covered wages up to the $184,500 wage base. Medicare withholding is generally 1.45%, with an additional 0.9% employer withholding requirement after an employee’s wages exceed $200,000 during the calendar year.
Two employees with the same gross salary can receive different net pay because their tax elections, insurance coverage and retirement contributions differ. Use the TSA paycheck deductions guide before estimating your monthly take-home pay.
How Do Benefits and Retirement Affect Total Compensation?
Eligible TSA employees can have access to federal health, dental, vision and life-insurance programs, annual and sick leave, paid federal holidays, retirement coverage and the Thrift Savings Plan, subject to appointment and enrollment rules.
The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) has three main components:
- the FERS Basic Benefit Plan;
- Social Security;
- the Thrift Savings Plan.
An ordinary TSO position is not automatically covered by enhanced law-enforcement retirement provisions. Federal Air Marshal appointments can have different pay, availability-pay and retirement rules.
Use the TSO employee benefits guide for insurance and leave, and the TSA retirement benefits guide for FERS, TSP, retirement ages and high-3 calculations.
Preparing for the Hiring Process Behind the Salary
A salary range matters only if you qualify and complete every required hiring stage. TSO applicants may need to pass the TSO Assessment Battery and continue through the structured interview, medical evaluation, drug screening and background process.
Applying for a TSO position?
Start with the complete TSO hiring process, then use the TSA test-prep guide and TSA TAB test guide. Candidates who want additional structured practice can compare the options in our JobTestPrep TSA review.
Federal Air Marshal applicants follow a different assessment and compensation path. Use the Federal Air Marshal test guide and JobTestPrep Federal Air Marshal review rather than relying on TSO-only materials.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Starting Salary for a TSA Officer in 2026?
There is no single nationwide starting salary. The amount varies by airport, SV band, locality, schedule and authorized incentives. Use the specific announcement and final offer.
Is SV-D the Same as GS-5?
No. Current TSO announcements can describe SV-D as equivalent to GS-5/6 for qualification purposes, but this does not create a one-to-one salary conversion.
Can a TSO Progress From SV-D to SV-F?
Some current announcements list promotion potential to SV-F. This identifies potential progression; it does not guarantee the timing, exact salary or highest rate in the band.
Does the Vacancy Salary Include Locality Pay?
Many announcements state that locality is already included. Read the detailed salary paragraph and do not add locality twice.
Do All TSOs Earn the Same Amount?
No. Band placement, duty location, schedule, premium pay and incentives can produce substantial differences.
Is the Vacancy Salary My Take-Home Pay?
No. The published figure is generally gross pay before taxes, retirement, insurance and other deductions.
Build a complete compensation picture with the TSA pay scale guide, pay progression guide, TSO benefits guide and retirement benefits guide. TSO applicants should also review the TSA TAB guide, JobTestPrep TSA review and the JobTestPrep TSA PrepPack.