OPM projects potential locality pay rates
Congress and the Bush administration still haven't reached an agreement on what next year's pay raise should be for white-collar federal workers. President Bush wants a 3 percent raise; the House and Senate have moved in the direction of a 3.5 percent increase.
Either way, the overall pay increase federal employees receive in 2008 will be depend partly on where they reside.
The Federal Salary Council earlier this month recommended that whatever Congress and the president decide, feds should receive an across-the-board pay increase of at least 2.5 percent. If that recommendation is followed, employees can expect to see an additional 0.5 percent to 1 percent allocated to locality pay.
Figures provided by the Office of Personnel Management to Government Executive show the raises federal employees in all locality pay areas could potentially expect to receive in 2008. Two scenarios are provided to account for the possibility of either a 3 percent or 3.5 percent overall raise.
| Locality Area | Overall raise of 3% | Overall raise of 3.5% |
| Atlanta | 3.12 | 3.75 |
| Boston | 3.15 | 3.80 |
| Buffalo | 3.05 | 3.60 |
| Chicago | 3.07 | 3.65 |
| Cincinnati | 2.67 | 2.84 |
| Cleveland | 3.00 | 3.52 |
| Columbus | 2.86 | 3.21 |
| Dallas | 3.11 | 3.72 |
| Dayton | 2.94 | 3.39 |
| Denver | 2.93 | 3.36 |
| Detroit | 2.92 | 3.34 |
| Hartford | 3.14 | 3.78 |
| Houston | 2.80 | 3.10 |
| Huntsville | 2.79 | 3.07 |
| Indianapolis | 2.73 | 2.96 |
| Los Angeles | 3.00 | 3.52 |
| Miami | 2.85 | 3.20 |
| Milwaukee | 3.02 | 3.56 |
| Minneapolis | 3.05 | 3.59 |
| New York | 3.23 | 3.97 |
| Philadelphia | 3.05 | 3.61 |
| Phoenix | 3.19 | 3.88 |
| Pittsburgh | 2.84 | 3.19 |
| Portland | 2.97 | 3.45 |
| Raleigh | 2.78 | 3.06 |
| Rest of the U.S. | 2.75 | 2.99 |
| Richmond | 2.94 | 3.39 |
| Sacramento | 3.04 | 3.59 |
| San Diego | 3.21 | 3.91 |
| San Francisco | 3.37 | 4.23 |
| Seattle | 3.00 | 3.51 |
| D.C. | 3.49 | 4.49 |
COMMENTS
- I'm tired of people telling me if I don't like my job with the FAA to quit and get a private sector job. I used to really enjoy my job but today it's different. The working conditions inside the FAA have been deteriorating for years. Many of those at the top of the FAA ladder are clueless as to what thier actions have created for those at the bottom (technicians). Doubling a persons workload and not back filling open slots with trained personel (my office) is a poor way to save money. My stress level has peaked and it's only a matter of time before I stroke out. UndrMediKated Posted January 10, 2008 12:57 PM
- There's a misconception that the COLA is based strictly on cost. The reason places like Houston get what appear to be too high of COLA is that it's tougher to recruit qualified folks in that geographic region covered. That said, the GS system was just as good as far as accountability/performance etc as NSPS. NSPS basically saves the government money at the expense of employees..... Rick Landers Posted January 8, 2008 3:29 PM
- It is true the pay raise factors are not realistic. The cost of living index is not used to factor pay by the federal government. The feds compares the wage rate of the private sector and determines the increase. I lived in Miami-Dade County. You can't by a house there. The required insurance and property tax cost more than the principal and interest. I also lived in Houston, Tx; there the cost of housing and living is so cheap. It is ridiculous that the federal pay in Houston is so high compared to other higher cost of living cities. The private sector accounts to a greater degree the true costs of living. That is why the feds will alway lag behind the private sector in recruitment, retention and pay. james Posted January 3, 2008 10:27 AM
