Ex-USDS here. Did 6 months at USDS, still federally employed as a USDS reserve.

Just wanted to chime in on "Who in their right mind would go to work for the government, for minimum wage, unless they were already independently wealthy?" GS-15 pay is nowhere near minimum wage. If you actually think so, I'm sorry to say that you are out of touch with society. And while some USDS employees may be independently wealthy, the majority certainly aren't.

There are also the nice perks of USDS, like working on things that critically matter to the lives of millions of the neediest demographic (both domestically and internationally), and collaborating with a bunch of A+ human beings who, despite the personal sacrifices, passionately want to do what they can to improve the welfare of others.

$13,000 a month is minimum wage ?

That is false. A single person making $160k/year and living in northern VA would receive $9k/mo in after-tax income.

I would love to see your math for this.

Guessing they meant pay 4k in tax.

It's capped at 160K. This means most are likely making less.

For a data point, I was offered $130k for a position at the IRS (as a USDS employee) working on taxpayer authorization, authentication, identity management.

That's about the number that my contact as a non-USDS employee (they seem to try to hire people for other orgs --"oops, sorry, we're actually full up, but do you want to work for the VA?" - no, no I do not, under any circumstances) was floating at me.

Mind sharing location?

Would've been working out of DC, relocating from the Midwest, for a 1-2 year "tour of duty".

Even a lowly GS-7 is making something like 3 times minimum wage.

They probably are making less than they could in the private sector, but calling it "minimum wage" is just ludicrously out of touch.

Not everyone is motivated solely by money.

How many people in USDS don't have substantial wealth from prior gigs though?

Effectively they are paying even less if you consider taxes (which go back to the federal government). Maybe a clever tax scheme can incentivize it.

some might do so to take advantage of PSLF