SSC CGL salary

SSC CGL salary is the pay of the central government posts filled through the Staff Selection Commission’s Combined Graduate Level examination, which range from Level 4 to Level 8 of the 7th Central Pay Commission pay matrix , with an entry basic pay from Rs. 25,500 to Rs. 47,600. On that basic pay come dearness allowance , house rent allowance , and transport allowance, so the actual monthly in-hand of an Income Tax Inspector, one of the most sought posts, is about Rs. 83,000 in a metro city at the current dearness allowance.

The pay depends entirely on the post, and the post depends on the pay level assigned to it. This article lists the SSC CGL posts by their pay level, gives the entry basic and the monthly in-hand for each, and links every level into the salary by pay level calculator so you can see the full breakdown and vary the city and the tax regime for your own case.

SSC CGL posts and pay by level

The Combined Graduate Level examination fills posts across five pay levels. The entry basic pay is fixed by the pay matrix; the in-hand below is the approximate take-home at the entry cell (Cell 1) at the current dearness allowance of 60 per cent, after the National Pension System contribution, the CGHS contribution, and income tax under the new regime. It is shown for an X-class (metro) city and a Y-class city, since the house rent and transport allowances change with the city.

Each level in the table opens the calculator set to that level, where you can change the city, the pension scheme, and the tax regime and read the full component-by-component breakdown. The figures rise every time the dearness allowance is revised, so the in-hand at the entry cell grows with each January and July DA order even before any promotion.

How the in-hand is built

The take-home is the gross pay less the standard deductions. The gross is the basic pay plus three allowances:

• Dearness allowance, 60 per cent of basic pay at present, revised every six months.
• House rent allowance, 30 per cent of basic in an X-class city, 20 per cent in a Y-class city, and 10 per cent in a Z-class city, subject to a floor.
• Transport allowance, a fixed amount by pay level and city with dearness allowance added on it. Level 6 and above draw the higher slab; the lower levels draw less.

From the gross, three deductions reach the in-hand: the National Pension System contribution of 10 per cent of basic plus dearness allowance, the CGHS contribution for the pay range, and income tax. For an Income Tax Inspector at Level 7 in a metro, the basic of Rs. 44,900 plus dearness allowance of Rs. 26,940, house rent allowance of Rs. 13,470, and transport allowance of about Rs. 5,760 gives a gross near Rs. 91,000; after the roughly Rs. 7,200 pension contribution, the CGHS contribution, and income tax under the new regime, the in-hand is about Rs. 83,000. The take-home salary article works through the same gap for the pay matrix as a whole.

A note on the in-hand figures

The in-hand figures here are likely to be a little higher than the ones in older salary charts, for two honest reasons. First, they are computed at the current dearness allowance of 60 per cent, whereas charts written a year or two ago used a lower rate, and the dearness allowance is a large part of the pay. Second, many charts label the gross pay minus the pension contribution as the “in-hand” and stop there, whereas the figures here also subtract income tax, which is the true take-home that reaches the bank. The gap between the two conventions is small at the lower levels, where the Section 87A rebate makes the new-regime tax nil, but it grows at Level 7 and Level 8, where the higher gross attracts some tax. Because every figure here is generated from the same pay-matrix and allowance data as the calculators on this site, you can reproduce and adjust any of them yourself.

Eligibility and selection

The Combined Graduate Level examination is open to graduates in any discipline, with a few posts carrying subject conditions: the Junior Statistical Officer post needs a background in statistics or mathematics, and the Assistant Audit Officer and Assistant Accounts Officer posts require the Finance and Economics paper in the second tier. The age limit varies by post, generally between 18 and 32 years, with the usual relaxations for reserved categories. Selection is through two computer-based tiers: Tier 1, a screening test common to all posts, and Tier 2, the main examination, which includes post-specific papers for the statistical and accounts posts. Some posts add a data-entry skill test or a physical and medical standard, such as the inspector and sub-inspector posts. The salary is the same for a given post regardless of the tier marks, because pay follows the pay level of the post, not the rank in the merit list.

The most sought-after posts

Not all posts at the same level are equally prized. Preference follows the pay level, the speed of promotion, the posting city, and the powers of the office.

Assistant Audit Officer and Assistant Accounts Officer, under the Comptroller and Auditor General, are the only Level 8 posts and the single highest pay level in the exam, with an entry basic of Rs. 47,600. They are gazetted Group B officers from the start, which places them ahead of the Level 7 posts.

Income Tax Inspector, in the Central Board of Direct Taxes, is the most sought Level 7 post. The draw is the job profile, the field authority, and a clear promotion ladder: Inspector at Level 7 to Income Tax Officer at Level 8, and then, on induction to the Group A service, to Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax at Level 10 and above.

Inspector, CGST and Central Excise, in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, is the Level 7 counterpart on the indirect-tax side, with a similar field role and a ladder through Superintendent at Level 8 to Assistant Commissioner. Promotions are seen as slower than in the income-tax department in many zones.

Assistant Section Officer in the Central Secretariat Service, especially in the Ministry of External Affairs or the main secretariat, offers a Delhi posting and policy exposure, with promotion to Section Officer at Level 8 and Under Secretary at Level 11. Assistant Enforcement Officer in the Directorate of Enforcement, a Level 7 post despite frequent misreporting as Level 8, is prized for its authority and quicker promotions.

Career progression

The starting salary is only the entry point. Because a promotion moves an officer to a higher column of the pay matrix, the pay grows in steps well beyond the annual increment. An Income Tax Inspector who starts at Level 7 basic of Rs. 44,900 reaches Level 8 as an Income Tax Officer, and Level 10 as an Assistant Commissioner, where the entry basic is Rs. 56,100 before allowances. An Assistant Section Officer moves from Level 7 to Level 8 and then Level 11. The pay fixation on promotion calculator shows how the basic pay is re-fixed at each step, and the salary by pay level page shows the pay at every level along the way.

Pension: NPS and UPS

Every SSC CGL recruit joins after 1 January 2004, so all are under the National Pension System rather than the Old Pension Scheme . The employee contributes 10 per cent of basic pay plus dearness allowance, and the government contributes 14 per cent. From 1 April 2025, employees may instead be under the Unified Pension Scheme , which keeps the same 10 per cent employee deduction but raises the government share and offers an assured pension after 25 years of service. Either way, the 10 per cent deduction is what reduces the gross to the in-hand shown above, and it is a saving toward retirement rather than a tax.

Allowances and benefits beyond the core

The in-hand figures in the table cover the three allowances every employee draws, but the total value of an SSC CGL post is larger. Employees with children draw the children education allowance of Rs. 2,812.50 a month per child for up to two children, and a hostel subsidy where a child stays in a hostel. Field posts such as Inspector and Sub-Inspector carry their own duty and travelling allowances, and officers on tour draw a daily allowance. The government also contributes to the pension, adding 14 per cent of basic plus dearness allowance on the employee’s 10 per cent under the National Pension System, which does not show in the take-home but is real deferred pay. On separation, the post carries gratuity , leave encashment , and, for those who opt for the Unified Pension Scheme, an assured pension. These are the reasons a central government post is compared on its whole package rather than the starting basic alone.

City and dearness allowance

The two figures that move the in-hand most, apart from the pay level, are the city class and the dearness allowance. A move from a Y-class to an X-class city raises the house rent allowance from 20 to 30 per cent of basic and lifts the transport allowance to the higher slab, which is why the X and Y columns in the table above differ by several thousand rupees at every level. The dearness allowance, at 60 per cent from 1 January 2026, is revised every six months against the AICPI-IW index, so an SSC CGL salary set today rises automatically at the next revision. The expected DA page tracks where the next revision is heading.

See also

• Salary by pay level
• Salary by pay level calculator
• 7th CPC salary calculator
• Central government jobs
• SSC CGL
• Income Tax Inspector salary
• Pay matrix
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• Take-home salary of central government employees
• Dearness allowance
• House rent allowance
• Transport allowance
• Expected DA
• Pay fixation on promotion calculator
• National Pension System
• Unified Pension Scheme
• Central government employees in India
• Minimum pay
• Income tax for government employees

External references

• Staff Selection Commission
• Central Board of Direct Taxes
• Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
• Comptroller and Auditor General of India
• Department of Expenditure