Figuring Your Locality Pay
The Federal Salary Council recently issued its recommendations for 2006 locality pay rates. Under the council's proposal, the average locality pay increase would be 1.21 percent.
The council's recommendations are based on the assumption that the Senate will follow the House's lead and pass a 3.1 percent total pay raise, and that President Bush will sign off on that increase--and allocate 2.1 percent of the raise to an across-the-board increase and 1 percent to locality pay.
The chart below will help you find your area's locality pay raise and calculate your proposed 2006 salary.
How to Read the Chart
There are 33 cities that have separate locality rates. The remaining locations are grouped into the "Rest of U.S." category. The Kansas City metropolitan area, Orlando, Fla., and St. Louis have been moved back into the Rest of U.S. category, but are still listed separately in the chart. Three new cities now have separate locality pay: Raleigh, N.C.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Phoenix.
The first column shows the recommended percent increase over the 2005 locality rates. The second column is the net pay increase, which includes the 2.1 percent across-the-board raise all civilian federal employees are expected to receive.
Note that the second column is not simply the first column plus 2.1 percent. It varies because the locality raise is calculated starting from a different base.
Calculate Your Pay
To calculate your recommended 2006 pay, find your base pay in this chart and multiply that by 2.1 percent, or 0.021. Then add that number to your base pay. Now, take the new number and multiply it by the total locality increase for your area. Add this to the previous number to arrive at your total pay.
For example, if you are a GS 1, Step 1 in Chicago, you would take the base pay of $16,016 and multiply that by 2.1 percent, getting $336. Adding that to the base pay gets you to $16,352. Now multiply that figure by 21.15 percent, which is the 2006 locality adjustment (up 1.45 percentage points from 2005's 19.7 percent locality adjustment for Chicago). You now have $3,458 in locality adjustments. Add that to $16,352 and you have $19,810.
OPM offers this nifty chart to illustrate the increase as well.
According to Donald J. Winstead, OPM's deputy associate director for pay and performance policy, that calculation works accurately only for employees in Step 1 of any grade level. For other steps, the calculation would be close, but not exact to the dollar.
| Locality | Locality Increase | Net Increase | 2005 Total Locality Rate | 2006 Total Locality Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 1.23% | 3.20% | 13.87% | 15.10% |
| Boston | 1.50% | 3.39% | 18.49% | 19.99% |
| Buffalo | 1.00% | 3.75% | 12.52% | 13.52% |
| Chicago | 1.45% | 3.34% | 19.70% | 21.15% |
| Cincinnati | 1.04% | 3.02% | 16.04% | 17.08% |
| Cleveland | 1.17% | 3.15% | 14.24% | 15.41% |
| Columbus | 0.87% | 2.88% | 13.98% | 14.85% |
| Dallas | 1.32% | 3.27% | 15.07% | 16.39% |
| Dayton | 0.97% | 2.98% | 12.86% | 13.83% |
| Denver | 1.43% | 3.34% | 18.06% | 19.49% |
| Detroit | 1.33% | 3.23% | 19.67% | 21.00% |
| Hartford | 1.78% | 3.62% | 19.52% | 21.30% |
| Houston | 1.60% | 3.41% | 24.77% | 26.37% |
| Huntsville | 0.93% | 2.94% | 12.42% | 13.35% |
| Indianapolis | 0.84% | 2.87% | 12.01% | 12.85% |
| Kansas City | 0.80% | 2.25% | 12.36% | 12.52% |
| Los Angeles | 1.53% | 3.38% | 21.65% | 23.18% |
| Miami | 1.07% | 3.04% | 16.77% | 17.84% |
| Milwaukee | 1.12% | 3.11% | 13.62% | 14.74% |
| Minneapolis | 1.32% | 3.26% | 15.99% | 17.31% |
| New York | 1.98% | 3.77% | 20.99% | 22.97% |
| Orlando | 0.80% | 2.80% | 11.75% | 12.52% |
| Philadelphia | 1.37% | 3.30% | 16.67% | 18.04% |
| Phoenix | 0.93% | 2.95% | 11.72% | 12.65% |
| Pittsburgh | 0.95% | 2.96% | 12.86% | 13.81% |
| Portland | 1.23% | 3.18% | 15.93% | 17.16% |
| Raleigh | 1.15% | 5.62% | 14.42% | 15.57% |
| Richmond | 1.00% | 3.00% | 13.15% | 14.15% |
| Rest of U.S. * | 0.80% | 2.83% | 11.72% | 12.52% |
| Sacramento | 1.40% | 3.33% | 16.51% | 17.91% |
| St. Louis | 0.80% | 2.49% | 12.09% | 12.52% |
| San Diego | 1.51% | 3.41% | 17.68% | 19.19% |
| San Francisco | 2.29% | 3.95% | 26.39% | 28.68% |
| Seattle | 1.40% | 3.33% | 16.53% | 17.93% |
| Washington | 1.52% | 3.44% | 15.98% | 17.50% |
| Weighted Avg. | 1.21% | 3.19% | 14.99% | 16.22% |
* Wondering why the average locality increase is 1.21 percent and not the 1 percent that the president will likely assign for locality pay? That's because only the 48 continental states get locality adjustments. Federal employees in Alaska and Hawaii, and those serving abroad, don't receive these adjustments.
COMMENTS
- Anyone who has experienced living in various cities across the United States can tell you that locality pay formula’s creator failed to buy a clue first. Perhaps they should pop their head out of the hole in the ground (or elsewhere) and get a reality check on the real cost of living in Houston (housing, food, gas) versus any other city in the United States or the "Rest of U.S." Better yet, make them live in these areas for a year or two to see if this formula is working. Disgusted GovExec.com reader Posted October 27, 2005 5:01 PM
- The story includes Kansas City as a separate locality pay area in 2006. I was under the impression that Kansas City loses it status as a separate locality pay area in 2006 and becomes part of the "rest of U.S." GovExec.com reader Posted October 24, 2005 8:58 AM
