A lone figure walking a dirt trail through subalpine forest with cloud-covered peaks behind.

Park ranger salary

Rangers are federal employees on the GS scale, and the honest entry number is $34,799 base at GS-5 — usually seasonal. The route most people take in is a different job title entirely.

OPM salary tables, effective January 2026 Updated 11 August 2026

Highest paying outdoor jobs → Park ranger

There is no BLS figure for park ranger, and anything presented as one is a proxy. "Park ranger" is not a Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation. Rangers are federal employees paid on published General Schedule tables, so this page uses the Office of Personnel Management's own 2026 rates instead of borrowing a number from an adjacent occupation.

GS-5, step 1: $34,799
GS-7, step 1: $43,106
GS-9, step 1: $52,727
GS-11, step 10: $82,938
Series: GS-0025
Most start: Seasonal

The ladder, in real numbers

Most rangers work at GS-5, GS-7 and GS-9. Grade reflects responsibility and qualification, not time served — and the jump from seasonal GS-5 to permanent GS-9 is the one that changes your life rather than your paycheque alone.

2026 General Schedule base pay

Step 1 to step 10, before locality

GS-4Park guide, seasonal

$31,103–$40,436

GS-5Ranger entry — usually seasonal

$34,799–$45,239

GS-7Experienced, often the first permanent grade

$43,106–$56,039

GS-9Established ranger

$52,727–$68,549

GS-11Supervisory and specialist

$63,795–$82,938

Base rates only. Locality pay is added according to duty station — but many parks sit in the "rest of US" locality area, so unlike most federal jobs the base figure is often close to the real one. Bar length is proportional to grade midpoint.

For comparison, a wildland firefighter at the equivalent grade earns substantially more, because federal wildland fire moved onto a separate, higher base table in 2025. Same employer, same land, different schedule.

"Park ranger" is two different jobs

They share a job series and a hat, and almost nothing else about the day.

The two functional areas

Interpretation

GS-0025 (Interpretation)

Guided walks, talks, evening programmes, staffing visitor centre information desks, developing educational material.

This is the ranger most visitors meet, and the one most people picture when they search for this job.

Visitor protection

GS-0025 (Protection)

Law enforcement. Detection and investigation of violations of federal criminal law, apprehension and detention of violators, protection of life and property. Also search and rescue and emergency response.

Sworn officers carrying firearms, with a seasonal law enforcement academy requirement.

A third area, resource management, covers the science and stewardship side. Many positions combine elements of more than one depending on the park's needs.

Decide which of these you actually want before you apply, because the qualification routes diverge sharply — the protection route requires law enforcement training that the interpretation route does not.

The entry route nobody mentions

Park Guide, GS-0090, is a different series — and it is the door. Park ranger positions (GS-0025) are classified as professional, two-grade-interval work starting at GS-5. Park Guide (GS-0090) is the one-grade-interval interpretive series: the same visitor-facing work at a lower grade and a lower bar, frequently seasonal. Enormous numbers of career rangers started as park guides. If you have been applying to GS-0025 vacancies and getting nowhere, search GS-0090 as well.

Apply October to February for the following summer. Some announcements close at the first 75 applicants, so the week a posting opens matters more than the closing date. See the hiring calendar.
Everything is on USAJOBS. There is no other route into federal ranger work, and the application is long — build the profile in September, not in January.
2026 is an unusually good year to try. The Park Service has indicated more than 5,000 seasonal hires for the year, including up to 1,560 nine-month positions — the first use of that authority, which runs through January 2027. Nine months instead of six materially changes what a seasonal year pays.
Seasonal to permanent is the hard step, and it usually takes several seasons plus willingness to move to whichever park has the vacancy.

Housing

Government quarters are available at many parks, particularly for seasonal staff at remote units, and are deducted from pay rather than free. Rates are set per park and per unit of accommodation and are not published centrally, so ask the specific park.

This is a different arrangement from the park concessionaires — Xanterra, Aramark, Delaware North — who run the lodges and restaurants inside the same parks and publish daily or weekly rates. If your goal is a season in a national park rather than a federal career specifically, concessionaire work is far easier to get and the housing terms are clearer.

Common questions

How much do park rangers make?

Park rangers are federal employees on the General Schedule. In 2026, base pay runs $34,799–$45,239 at GS-5, $43,106–$56,039 at GS-7, $52,727–$68,549 at GS-9 and $63,795–$82,938 at GS-11, before locality pay. Most rangers work at GS-5, 7 and 9, and entry positions are usually seasonal.

Is there a BLS salary for park rangers?

No. Park ranger is not a Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation. Any figure presented as one is borrowed from an adjacent occupation such as conservation scientists or protective service workers. Because rangers are federal employees, the published OPM pay tables are the accurate source.

What is the difference between a park ranger and a park guide?

Park Ranger (GS-0025) is a professional two-grade-interval series starting at GS-5. Park Guide (GS-0090) is a one-grade-interval interpretive series doing similar visitor-facing work at a lower grade with a lower entry bar, often seasonal. Park guide is a common and under-advertised way into the Park Service.

Do park rangers carry guns?

Some do. Rangers in the protection functional area are sworn law enforcement officers who investigate federal criminal violations, make arrests and carry firearms, and must complete law enforcement academy training. Rangers in interpretation and resource management do not.

When should I apply?

Between October and February for the following summer, on USAJOBS. Some announcements close at the first 75 applicants, so applying in the first days of a posting matters far more than the advertised deadline.

Sources

Pay data: U.S. Office of Personnel Management, General Schedule salary table effective January 2026, read directly from OPM. Base rates before locality. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
Classification: OPM Park Ranger Series GS-0025 — a two-grade-interval professional series, lowest grade GS-5, with functional areas in interpretation, visitor protection and resource management. Park Guide GS-0090 is the separate one-grade-interval interpretive series.
2026 seasonal hiring: More than 5,000 seasonal hires including up to 1,560 nine-month positions, the first year that authority has been used, running through January 2027 — as reported for the 2026 season. Confirm against live USAJOBS announcements.
Why no single "park ranger salary": Because there is no single grade. A seasonal GS-5 interpretation ranger and a permanent GS-11 supervisory ranger are both park rangers and are $48,000 apart at the top of their grades. A single median would describe neither.
What we did not publish: Government quarters rates. These are set per park and per unit and are not published centrally, so any figure would be invented.
Corrections: If a figure here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it and note the change.