Federal Law Enforcement Careers
As mentioned previously, there are some essential differences between local and state level jobs vs. federal law enforcement jobs.
Desk Jobs Available
The federal jobs profiled in the following pages focus on law enforcement positions. Note that federal agencies have other opportunities in addition to the law enforcement jobs discussed here. Agencies like the FBI or DEA, for example, are massive operations which need people with all kinds of skills - administrative, HR, legal, tech support, and more. This may be of interest to candidates who do not meet the requirements for law enforcement work in the field, possibly because of age or physical limitations.
The Federal Government Pay Scale
The federal government has a pay scale with 15 levels, termed GS-1 (the lowest salary) to GS-15 (the highest). The table below shows the basic GS pay scale. This may be useful when researching federal law enforcement jobs, as federal job descriptions often refer to GS levels to describe pay. Note that these numbers refer only to the annual base salary.
GS Pay Scale Level |
Approximate Average Base Salary |
GS-1 |
$17,540 - $21,944 |
GS-2 |
$19,721 - $24,815 |
GS-3 |
$21,517 - $27,970 |
GS-4 |
$24,156 - $31,401 |
GS-5 |
$27,026 - $35,135 |
GS-6 |
$30,125 - $31,129 |
GS-7 |
$33,477 - $43,521 |
GS-8 |
$37,075 - $48,199 |
GS-9 |
$40,949 - $53,234 |
GS-10 |
$45,095 - $58,622 |
GS-11 |
$49,544 - $ 64,403 |
GS-12 |
$59,383 - $77,194 |
GS-13 |
$70,165 - $91,801 |
GS-14 |
$83,445 - $108,483 |
GS-15 |
$98,156 - $127,604 |
Locality Pay, Law Enforcement Availability Pay, and Overtime
The pay scale above does not include certain adjustments that increase most federal salaries. Locality pay, which provides pay adjustments based on location, is not included. A locality pay table can be found here: http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/indexGS.asp.
Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP), a type of payment given to Federal law enforcement officers who hold criminal investigator jobs, is also not included. The same is true of overtime pay. Thanks to these federal pay benefits, most federal employees receive more substantial annual earnings than the base pay suggested by the GS pay scale.
