You searched "GL-1896-5 pay scale" because you want a clear answer. What does that grade and step actually pay in 2026, and what should a veteran expect for take-home? You will get that answer below.

One thing up front. The GL-1896 series is the federal job code for Border Patrol Agents, not Customs and Border Protection Officers. CBP Officers are the GL-1895 series. People mix these up all the time. Both jobs are with CBP. Both pay on the GL scale. But the series numbers are different, and the premium pay rules are different too. This guide covers both because a lot of veterans I talk to are weighing one against the other.

I sat on hiring panels in my federal career and watched candidates walk in with the wrong pay numbers in their head. They thought GL was GS. They thought everyone got LEAP. They thought the locality on their offer was the same as their last duty station. Bad assumptions cost real money. Let's fix that.

What does GL-1896-5 mean in plain English?

Three things stacked together.

GL is a special federal pay scale for law enforcement officers. It is not the regular GS scale. The GL scale exists because law enforcement work at lower grades needs to pay better than the standard GS to attract people. The legal basis is in 5 CFR 550.103. GL only covers grades 3 through 10. Above grade 10, agents and officers move to the regular GS scale.

1896 is the OPM occupational series for Border Patrol Enforcement. This is the official series for U.S. Border Patrol Agents. The OPM classification standard is public on the OPM Border Patrol Enforcement Series 1896 page. Border Patrol Agents work between the ports of entry. They patrol the land border and the coastal waters. Different mission from CBP Officers, who work at the ports of entry checking passports and cargo.

5 is the step within that grade. Each GL grade has 10 steps. Step 1 is the entry rate. Steps 2, 3, and 4 come every year. Steps 5, 6, and 7 come every two years. Steps 8, 9, and 10 come every three years. So Step 5 is where you land after about four years on the job at a single grade.

Put it together. GL-1896-5 means a Border Patrol Agent at grade 9 step 5 of the law enforcement pay scale. (Wait, why grade 9? Because most agents promote up to grade 9 before they hit step 5. We will get to that.)

How much does GL-1896-5 actually pay in 2026?

Three numbers go into your paycheck. Base pay. Premium pay. Locality.

Base pay. The 2026 GL scale base rate for grade 9 step 5 sits around $61,517 per year. Grade 7 step 5 is closer to $54,602. Grade 5 step 5 is around $47,559. These are base numbers before any add-ons. They come from the official 2026 OPM GL salary table. Verify your own grade and step against that PDF before you sign anything.

The 2026 federal pay raise was a 1.0 percent across-the-board increase. That 1 percent is what the published GL salary table reflects. OPM also authorized an additional 2.8 percent special LE rate for covered law enforcement positions, bringing the total raise to roughly 3.8 percent. OPM is releasing the special-rate tables separately later in 2026. Your offer letter should reflect the higher special-rate number once those tables are final.

Premium pay for Border Patrol Agents. This is where Border Patrol pay gets big. Under the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act, agents pick a level. Level 1 adds a 25 percent supplement to base pay. Level 2 adds 12.5 percent. The statute is at 5 USC § 5550. Level 1 means you sign up for 10 hours of scheduled overtime per week on top of your 40-hour base. Level 2 is shorter shifts but less pay.

Most new agents start at Level 1. So your GL-1896-5 base of $61,517 turns into about $76,896 just from the 25 percent supplement. And that is before locality.

Locality. Where you work changes the math. Rest of U.S. is the lowest. San Diego, El Paso, and the New York/Newark areas pay more. The 2026 locality adjustments range from about 17 percent in Rest of U.S. up to 45 percent in San Francisco. Most border duty stations sit between 17 and 32 percent. See the 2026 LEO locality pay tables for exact rates.

Bradley Landed a GS Management & Program Analyst Role.

"BMR assisted me with the federal resume and made the translations from military jargon to civilian language so easy."
— Bradley, E-8, Army

Read their story →

OPM data built in — goes beyond the job announcement Full 2-page federal format for USAJOBS Tailored to every GS position you apply for

Get My Free Resume

2 free tailored resumes, cover letters & LinkedIn optimization

What is the take-home for a GL-1896-5 in real cities?

Let's run real math for three duty stations. These are estimates. Use the official OPM LEO salary calculator for your exact numbers.

Base figure: GL-9 step 5 at $61,517. BPAPRA Level 1 adds 25 percent. Then locality applies.

These numbers are gross before federal tax, FICA, and FEHB health insurance. Take-home depends on your tax situation. But the headline number for a GL-1896-5 in most border zones lands between $91K and $106K gross. That is solid money for an entry-level federal LE job. For comparison, a GS-9 step 5 in San Diego with no premium pay would gross around $80K.

What is the difference between BPAPRA and LEAP and AUO?

These three premium pay programs sound similar. They are not the same.

BPAPRA is the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act. This is what Border Patrol Agents (GL-1896) get. Three levels. Level 1 is 25 percent. Level 2 is 12.5 percent. Level 3 is base pay with no supplement. Agents pick a level and lock in for the year. You can read the rules at 5 CFR Part 550 Subpart P.

LEAP is Law Enforcement Availability Pay. It is a flat 25 percent supplement under 5 USC § 5545a. LEAP is for criminal investigators in the 1811 series. Think FBI Special Agents, ATF, Secret Service, IRS-CI, ICE-HSI Special Agents. Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers do not get LEAP. If you read online that BPAs get LEAP, that source is wrong. They get BPAPRA, which functions similarly but is a separate authority.

AUO is Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime. AUO is for CBP Officers (GL-1895) and other LE positions that have irregular work hours. AUO pays up to 25 percent over base. The rules are at 5 CFR 550.151. Most CBPOs end up at the 25 percent AUO rate because port operations run 24/7.

Net effect: both jobs land at a 25 percent premium on base pay. A GL-1896 Border Patrol Agent gets there through BPAPRA Level 1. A GL-1895 CBP Officer gets there through 25 percent AUO. The route there is different, but the dollar outcome is close.

What is the GL career path for a CBP veteran?

Most veterans enter at GL-5, GL-7, or GL-9 depending on education and prior experience. After that, the path moves up in steps and grades.

Entry grade rules:

• GL-5: Three years of full-time work experience showing the ability to take charge, make decisions, and resolve issues. Or a bachelor's degree.
• GL-7: One year of specialized experience at the GS-5 level. Or a bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement.
• GL-9: One year of specialized experience at the GL-7 level. Or a master's degree. Veterans with military police, infantry leadership, or federal LE prior service often qualify here.

Once you are in, the promotion track for Border Patrol Agents looks like this. You hire on at GL-5, 7, or 9. After one year, you promote to the next grade. So GL-5 hires reach GL-9 in two years. After GL-9, the journeyman grade is GS-12 (the scale changes from GL to GS at grade 11). Most agents reach GS-12 in three to four years from hire.

How do veterans qualify for CBP and Border Patrol jobs?

Veterans preference applies. So does the age waiver. So does prior federal LE credit. Here is how it works.

Veterans preference. 5-point and 10-point preference both apply on USAJOBS announcements. The rules are on the official OPM Vet Guide. Preference moves you up the certificate list. It does not guarantee selection.

If you served on active duty during a war period or campaign and got an honorable or general discharge, you qualify for 5-point preference. If you have a service-connected disability, a Purple Heart, or you served during certain time periods, you may qualify for 10-point preference. Document your status with your DD-214 and any VA disability rating letter.

Maximum entry age. CBP has a maximum entry age of 40 for Border Patrol Agent positions. The age limit exists because federal law enforcement officers have a mandatory retirement age of 57. The agency needs you to serve 20 years before that hits.

Veterans get a waiver. 5 USC § 3307(d) requires agencies to waive the maximum entry age for preference-eligible veterans. The MSPB confirmed this in the Isabella decision. So if you are over 40 and you qualify for veterans preference, CBP cannot reject you for age alone. You still have to pass everything else.

Federal LE credit. If you have prior covered federal LE service (FBI, Marshals, DEA, ICE, etc.), that time counts toward your retirement. You may also be able to subtract that time from your age for the entry-age calculation. Talk to a CBP HR rep about your specific case before you apply.

What does the CBP hiring process look like?

The path from application to badge takes 6 to 18 months. That is a long timeline. Plan for it.

1. Apply on USAJOBS. CBP runs continuous announcements for Border Patrol Agent and CBP Officer. Search by series 1896 or 1895. Apply to the geographic regions you are willing to work.
2. Entrance exam. The CBP Officer test (CBPOSA) and the Border Patrol exam (BPA-ET) are both online. The BPA exam also includes a Spanish proficiency option or an artificial language test.
3. Structured interview. Standard federal LE behavioral interview. Prepare STAR examples that show judgment, integrity, and teamwork.
4. Fitness test. Push-ups, sit-ups, and a 220-yard run. Pass standards vary by job and age. Train ahead.
5. Polygraph. Single-issue polygraph focused on integrity. Most disqualifications happen here. Honesty on the prescreen questionnaire matters more than people think.
6. Medical and background. Full medical exam, vision, hearing, drug screen. Background investigation pulls credit, criminal, and reference checks.
7. Academy. Border Patrol Agents go to the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, NM. CBP Officers go to the CBP Officer Basic Training at FLETC in Glynco, GA. Both are paid training.

How does your federal resume need to look for a GL-1896 application?

This is where a lot of veterans lose out. The federal resume rules are different from civilian.

Two pages max for the federal version. OPM updated guidance in late 2025. The old 4-6 page rule is out. Your federal resume should still pack more detail per line than a civilian resume, but the total length is now 2 pages. Source: USAJOBS resume guidance.

Hours per week, supervisor, and salary on every job. Your federal resume needs the hours worked per week, your direct supervisor (and whether the rater can be contacted), and your last salary or pay grade. Skip these and the HR specialist will rate you as "not qualified" even if you can do the job.

Match the specialized experience language. The job announcement lists specialized experience for each grade. Your resume needs to mirror that language. If the announcement says "experience apprehending subjects in remote terrain," your military bullet should say apprehending subjects in remote terrain, not "executed direct action operations."

Use the right keywords for the series. For 1896, the words that match: apprehension, immigration enforcement, surveillance, tracking, border security, vehicle stops, patrol operations. For 1895: inspection, primary and secondary screening, document examination, contraband detection, passenger processing.

If you want help getting this right, Best Military Resume has a federal resume builder that handles the 2-page format and the specialized experience language. It is free for veterans and spouses. We have OPM''s full classification data wired in, including all 351 GS series and the GL series, so the keyword matching for series 1895 and 1896 is built in.

What about retirement, benefits, and other perks?

Federal law enforcement retirement is one of the best benefits in the federal government. Most veterans do not factor this in when they look at base pay alone.

Special LEO retirement. Under 5 USC § 8412(d), federal LE officers can retire at age 50 with 20 years of covered service. Or at any age with 25 years. The pension formula uses 1.7 percent times your high-3 salary for the first 20 years, then 1.0 percent for years beyond. So 20 years of LE service gives you 34 percent of your high-3 in a pension for life, starting at age 50.

Mandatory retirement at 57. The flip side. Federal LE officers must retire at age 57. This is why the entry-age limit exists. The combination means a 25-year-old hire can do 32 years and retire at 57 with a big pension. A 40-year-old hire does 17 years and retires at 57 with a smaller one.

Health, dental, vision. Standard FEHB coverage with the agency paying about 72 percent of the premium. You pick the plan.

Thrift Savings Plan. The federal 401(k) equivalent. Up to 5 percent agency match. Plus you keep your military TSP. Combine the two and roll over if you want.

Other benefits. Take-home vehicle in some duty stations. Uniform allowance. Hazardous duty pay in certain assignments. Spanish language pay differential for some BPA roles.

Where should you apply and what should you expect?

Real talk on the hiring market. CBP and Border Patrol have been hiring aggressively for years. The demand is real. The bar is still high.

Veterans have a measurable edge. Veterans preference, the age waiver, and the prior LE credit all stack. If you served in military police, infantry, security forces, master-at-arms, or any LE-adjacent role, your specialized experience translates directly. CBP knows this and recruits at separation events.

Geographic flexibility helps. If you will work anywhere on the southern border, you will move faster than someone holding out for a specific city. Most agents move several times in their career anyway.

Apply on USAJOBS, not the CBP Careers site directly. The CBP Careers page redirects you to USAJOBS for the actual application. Set up alerts on USAJOBS for series 1896 (Border Patrol) and 1895 (CBP Officer). Apply to multiple announcements.

If your federal resume needs work before you apply, start with our Federal GS Pay Scale 2026 guide to understand the broader pay system. Then use the GS Pay Scale Calculator article to estimate your full compensation. If you are weighing this against a regular GS job, the WG vs GS pay comparison may help.

Veterans preference is your biggest single edge in the process. Read the Veterans Preference Points guide before you apply. If you have a service-connected disability, the USAJOBS for Disabled Veterans article covers the additional hiring paths. And if you want to know how locality changes your final number once you pick a duty station, our GS Locality Pay guide walks through the math.

The numbers matter. The application matters more. A clean federal resume that mirrors the announcement language will beat a stronger candidate with a sloppy one every time. Take the time to get it right.