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SEC Compensation Program

How the SEC Sets Salaries

Starting salaries are determined based on an assessment of the selectee’s total experience (and education, as applicable). This includes both specialized experience (directly related to the duties of the job being filled) and relevant experience (not directly related to the duties of the position, but which prepared the candidate for success in the position). In determining a salary offer, the SEC applies structured “pay matrices” that define the amounts of experience needed for pay to be set at specific rates between the minimum and maximum pay range for the grade. The base pay ranges below reflect the candidate’s full range for a selected grade. However, a selectee's initial pay in most instances after being calculated, is determined to be lower than the maximum rate of the pay range based on their years of specialized experience, relevant experience and grade level.

Information Used by Office of Human Resources Staff to Set Pay

The résumé that a job candidate submits when applying for an SEC position is used by the Office of Human Resources (OHR) Compensation Team to identify creditable relevant and specialized experience. To ensure that your experience is accurately credited, it is essential that you submit a résumé that includes your complete work history and description of specific job duties, start and end dates for each position, and full and part time work done.

Base Pay Ranges

SK Employees

The base pay ranges for the different levels of SK series employees are as follows:

2023 Base Pay
Effective 04/09/23
SK Employees
(BU and NBU)

Grade Minimum Maximum
1 $22,993 $33,672
2 $25,855 $37,863
3 $28,208 $41,309
4 $31,664 $46,364
5 $35,430 $54,201
6 $39,492 $60,412
7 $43,888 $68,123
8 $48,599 $75,442
9 $53,681 $84,549
10 $59,117 $93,110
11 $64,952 $110,039
12 $77,844 $131,892
13 $92,572 $156,835
14 $106,295 $180,083
15 (supv) $112,678 $194,491
16 $121,391 $206,158
17 (supv) $128,675 $222,650

Locality Pay

The locality rates presented below are applied to an employee’s basic pay based on the duty location.

Duty Station Locality Rate
Atlanta 23.02%
Boston 31.05%
Chicago 29.79%
Denver 29.05%
Fort Worth 26.37%
Los Angeles 34.89%
Miami 24.14%
New York 36.16%
Philadelphia 27.84%
Salt Lake City 16.50%
San Francisco 44.15%
Washington, DC 32.49%

The salary cap, including locality pay, is $272,100 for all SK staff.

All locations use minimum and maximum/cap

Senior Officers

The pay ranges for the Senior Officer levels are as follows:

2023 Pay Structure (No Locality)
Effective 04/09/2023
Senior Officers

SO Level Minimum 2023 Maximum/Cap
Level 1 $190,564 $289,273
Level 2 $190,564 $295,093
Level 3 $190,564 $295,093

All locations use minimum and maximum/cap.


Updated and finalized 5/31/2023

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