SSC CHSL Salary 2026: Posts (LDC, JSA, DEO) and Pay Levels, and Where PA/SA Went

SSC CHSL 2026 fills Group C posts in central ministries, departments, constitutional bodies, statutory bodies and tribunals. The notice lists three kinds of post: Lower Division Clerk (LDC) or Junior Secretariat Assistant (JSA), Data Entry Operator (DEO), and Data Entry Operator Grade 'A'. Each sits on a level of the 7th Pay Commission pay matrix, and that level fixes your starting basic pay. This page lists the posts, explains how allowances are added, and works through a month's pay with the figures shown.

SSC CHSL 2026 posts and pay levels

The pay levels below are taken from paragraph 1 of the SSC CHSL 2026 notice. The starting basic pay is the first figure of each pay range.

The notice gives about 2,536 tentative vacancies. SSC says post-wise and category-wise numbers will be posted on its website under Candidate's Corner, Tentative Vacancy. It does not collect state-wise or zone-wise numbers; for those, the notice asks you to contact the user departments.

The notice does not say which DEO vacancies are at Level 4 and which are at Level 5. That depends on the department, so check the tentative vacancy list when SSC publishes it.

What about PA/SA?

Older CHSL guides often list Postal Assistant/Sorting Assistant (PA/SA). PA/SA is not one of the posts in the CHSL 2026 notice. In 2026, PA/SA in the Department of Posts appears in the SSC CGL 2026 notice instead, at Pay Level 4 (₹25,500 to ₹81,100). If PA/SA is your target, you need to follow CGL, which requires a graduation degree.

LDC and JSA salary (Level 2)

LDC and JSA are clerical posts at Pay Level 2. A new joiner starts at ₹19,900 basic pay. Each year you get an increment that moves you one cell up the Level 2 column of the pay matrix, up to ₹63,200 at the top of the range.

To be selected, LDC/JSA candidates must clear the typing test in Tier 2: 35 words per minute in English or 30 words per minute in Hindi, on a 10-minute passage. Hindi typing must be done in the Mangal font. The test is qualifying.

LDC posts in the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) are open only to men, if any are reported. They also have physical and medical standards, listed in Annexure XVI of the notice.

DEO and DEO Grade 'A' salary (Level 4 or 5)

DEO posts pay more at the start: ₹25,500 at Level 4 or ₹29,200 at Level 5. DEO Grade 'A' is at Level 4.

DEO candidates take a skill test instead of the typing test. In most departments the required speed is 8,000 key depressions an hour. For DEO and DEO Grade 'A' posts in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Staff Selection Commission and the Ministry of Culture, it is 15,000 key depressions an hour, and you also need Class 12 in Science with Mathematics. For other CHSL posts, Class 12 in any stream is enough.

How the monthly pay is built

Your gross pay is basic pay plus allowances that are mostly worked out as a percentage of basic.

• Basic pay: the first cell of your pay level, from the table above.
• Dearness Allowance (DA): the Union Cabinet approved DA of 63% of basic pay from 1 July 2026, an increase of 3 percentage points over the earlier 60% (PIB release, 28 October 2026). DA is revised twice a year, for January and July.
• House Rent Allowance (HRA): depends on the class of city you are posted to. The 7th Pay Commission rates were 24%, 16% and 8% of basic for X, Y and Z cities, and the Government decided to raise them when DA crossed 25% and again when it crossed 50%. DA reached 50% from 1 January 2024, and from that date the HRA rate for X-class cities such as Delhi became 30%, as the Delhi Development Authority's circular on the revision records. X cities are those with a population of 50 lakh or more. The minimum HRA is ₹5,400 in X cities, ₹3,600 in Y cities and ₹1,800 in Z cities. HRA is not paid if you live in government housing.
• Transport Allowance: also paid, at a rate that depends on your pay level and city. We have not included it below because we could not check the current amounts against the official order.

Illustrative monthly gross

In a Y or Z city, HRA is a smaller share of basic, so the gross is lower. Add Transport Allowance to get closer to a real figure.

Why there is no in-hand figure here

In-hand pay is gross pay minus deductions. The main one for new central government employees is the pension contribution. Others include group insurance, CGHS where it applies, and income tax under the regime you pick. These vary by person, city and department, so treat any single in-hand number you see online as an estimate. Your first pay slip will show the real figure.

What changes your pay later

• Annual increment: one cell up your pay level each year.
• DA revisions: every January and July.
• Promotion: the next grade and when you become eligible are set by the recruitment rules of your cadre or department, not by the CHSL notice. We have not given a timeline because the notice does not contain one.
• 8th Pay Commission: the Cabinet approved its terms of reference on 28 October 2025. It is to make recommendations within 18 months of its constitution. Until the Government accepts its report, the 7th CPC pay matrix applies.

Getting there starts with Tier 1

Tier 1 has four parts of 25 questions each, with a 15-minute timer per part. Our SSC CHSL 2026 exam pattern and sectional timing guide explains how to plan for it. To see where you stand in each section, take SSC CHSL Full Mock 1, free. More mocks and guides are on the SSC CHSL page.