Civil Service Retirement System
CSRS retirement calculator
Build an auditable regular CSRS annuity estimate from your high-3, service, sick leave, retirement path, deposits, and survivor election.
- Rule snapshot
- Primary sources
- OPM · U.S. Code · eCFR
- Privacy
- Entries stay in your browser
CSRS retirement calculator worksheet
OPM Chapter 50 worked examples
Load an official fixture, then change one fact at a time.
OPM-style CSRS worksheet
Your calculation trail will appear here
Start by confirming coverage and formula category. No legally meaningful choices are preselected.
Canonical OPM, statute, and regulation sources last reviewed . Rules are versioned locally; no government API or FedUp data-platform lookup is needed to calculate your entries.
Your pay, service, dates, and election values stay in this browser. FedUp.work does not transmit or store them.
Methodology
A pension estimate you can audit line by line
The calculation follows the OPM sequence and keeps eligibility, service credit, earned annuity, and reductions from collapsing into one opaque number.
- 01
Screen the retirement path
Age and actual service determine whether the modeled path is voluntary immediate, agency-authorized early optional, discontinued service, or deferred at age 62. Sick leave never creates eligibility.
- 02
Build computation service
The calculator combines certified civilian service and other creditable service on a 30-day service calendar. For a supported immediate path, eligible unused sick leave is converted with OPM's 2,087-hour chart before the final partial month is dropped.
- 03
Apply the tiered CSRS formula
The first five years accrue at 1.5% of high-3 pay, the next five at 1.75%, and service beyond ten years at 2%. The ledger keeps the actual-service 80% cap and any permitted sick-leave increment visible.
- 04
Show every reduction
Any supported under-55 early-retirement reduction, known pre-October 1982 deposit reduction, and survivor-election reduction is shown separately before the OPM-style monthly floor is applied.
Eligibility screen
The retirement path controls the estimate
Thresholds use actual service. Agency authority and personnel records still control whether an early or discontinued-service retirement applies.
| Path | Common threshold | Calculator treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Voluntary immediate | 62/5 · 60/20 · 55/30 | Regular CSRS formula; eligible sick leave can increase computation service |
| Early optional / VERA | 50/20 · any age/25, with agency authority | Full-month age reduction below 55; authority must be confirmed |
| Discontinued service | 50/20 · any age/25, with a qualifying action | Full-month age reduction below 55; qualifying action must be confirmed |
| Deferred | Age 62 · 5 civilian years · one-of-last-two rule | Unused sick leave is excluded from computation service |
Scope boundary
Regular CSRS only—complex coverage stops the result
The page does not manufacture a payable estimate when a separate statutory formula, proration, offset, or case-specific order is required.
Included in the model
- Pure CSRS coverage and regular full-time service
- Voluntary immediate, authorized early optional, discontinued-service, and age-62 deferred paths
- Exact-date screening for full months below age 55
- OPM's tiered 1.5%, 1.75%, and 2% annuity formula
- Normal-tour unused sick-leave conversion for supported immediate paths
- Known pre-October 1982 unpaid-deposit and survivor-election reductions
- A worksheet-ready CSV of the same visible calculation ledger
Stops or stays outside
- CSRS Offset, mixed CSRS/FERS, transferee, or FERS-only coverage
- Part-time proration, disability, phased retirement, or reemployed-annuitant cases
- Law-enforcement, firefighter, air-traffic-controller, Congressional, or other special formulas
- Unresolved refunds, redeposits, court orders, former-spouse claims, or alternative annuity elections
- Taxes, COLAs, FEHB, FEGLI, TSP, and an after-deduction net payment
- An official eligibility, service-credit, high-3, or payable-benefit determination
Provenance
Primary rules, local arithmetic
The model is based on OPM guidance, the governing statute, and current regulations. It does not scrape a third-party calculator or rely on a live external feed while you use it.
Sources last verified . Confirm your service history, high-3, deposits, and survivor rights with agency HR and OPM.
- OPM: CSRS annuity computationThe regular CSRS formula, high-3 definition, 80% maximum, sick-leave treatment, and survivor examples.
- OPM: CSRS retirement eligibilityThe five-year civilian-service and one-of-last-two coverage requirements used by the eligibility screen.
- OPM: CSRS types of retirementVoluntary, early, discontinued-service, disability, and deferred retirement boundaries.
- OPM CSRS/FERS Handbook, Chapter 50Detailed CSRS computation sequence, service conversion, rounding, reductions, and worked examples used as regression fixtures.
- 5 U.S.C. § 8339The statutory CSRS annuity formula, maximum, age reduction, deposits, and survivor treatment.
- 5 U.S.C. § 8333Minimum civilian service and the one-of-last-two-years coverage requirement.
- 5 U.S.C. § 8336Voluntary, early optional, and discontinued-service retirement eligibility paths.
- 5 U.S.C. § 8338The age-62 deferred CSRS annuity for a separated employee who meets the statutory conditions.
- 5 C.F.R. § 831.302Unused-sick-leave credit, including the normal-tour conversion and exclusion from retirement eligibility.
- 5 C.F.R. § 831.611The CSRS survivor-annuity election and reduction rules used by the calculator.
- OPM: CSRS service creditCurrent OPM guidance for deposits, redeposits, military service, and service-credit documentation.
- 5 C.F.R. § 831.1005CSRS Offset coverage boundaries that keep offset cases outside this regular CSRS calculation.
- OPM CSRS/FERS Handbook, Chapter 55Part-time service proration procedures, which require a separate computation and are excluded here.
CSRS calculator FAQ
Know the boundary before using the result
How is a regular CSRS retirement annuity calculated?
Multiply high-3 average pay by 1.5% for the first five years, 1.75% for the next five years, and 2% for service beyond ten years. OPM then applies any relevant age, deposit, and survivor reductions. This tool displays those stages separately instead of presenting one unexplained total.
What should I enter for high-3 average pay?
Use the highest average annual basic pay earned during any three consecutive years of creditable civilian service, as verified by your agency record. It is not necessarily final salary or total compensation. The standard percentage formula has a special low-pay alternative below $5,000, so the calculator stops rather than applying the wrong formula to that uncommon case.
Can unused sick leave make me eligible to retire under CSRS?
No. Actual age and service determine eligibility. For a supported immediate retirement, normal-tour unused sick leave may increase computation service after eligibility is established. It is excluded from a deferred annuity and from the actual-service portion of the 80% maximum.
How does the CSRS age reduction work?
For a supported early optional or discontinued-service retirement, the annuity is reduced by one-sixth of 1% for each full month the retiree is under age 55. The calculator uses dates to count full months. It does not apply this reduction to a regular voluntary or deferred path.
Does this calculator support CSRS Offset or mixed CSRS/FERS service?
No. CSRS Offset and transferee or mixed-coverage cases require separate component and Social Security-offset rules. The calculator stops before producing a payable estimate for those cases. A FERS-only employee should use the FERS retirement calculator instead.
Does it support part-time or special-provision CSRS service?
No. Part-time service requires an OPM proration calculation, and special groups can use different eligibility or computation rules. Disability, phased retirement, reemployment, court-order, and unresolved redeposit cases also remain outside this regular full-time model.
What does the survivor election do to a CSRS annuity?
For a supported full or partial spouse survivor election, the employee annuity reduction is 2.5% of the first $3,600 of the elected base plus 10% of the amount above $3,600. The potential survivor annuity is generally 55% of the elected base. Court orders and former-spouse cases require individual review.
Can I open the calculation in Excel?
Yes. The calculator's CSV download mirrors the visible ledger so it can be opened in Excel or another spreadsheet. It preserves the inputs, formula stages, reductions, and scope notices; it does not turn the planning estimate into an OPM determination.
Does this replace an agency or OPM retirement estimate?
No. Your agency and OPM control the official coverage, service history, deposits, high-3 average pay, retirement eligibility, survivor rights, and payable benefit. Use this as a transparent planning worksheet and reconcile it with your official estimate.
Related decisions
Put the CSRS estimate beside the rest of your exit plan
Use the correct FERS tool for FERS-only coverage, estimate a military-service deposit separately, or explore private-sector roles that value federal experience.