The Office of Personnel Management is proposing to bring thousands of federal employees under a higher locality pay come January.
Building off recommendations made last year by several agencies that shape federal pay, the draft regulations would create four locality pay areas: Fresno, California; Reno, Nevada; Rochester, New York; and Spokane, Washington.
The proposal would also expand existing areas, meaning a total of 32,900 employees could be in line for a pay boost in 2024.
“These changes would result in geographic differences in federal salaries better reflecting the overall geographic differences in salary in line with statutory goals,” according to the proposed regulation issued Wednesday. “In turn, this could affect Federal recruitment and retention across the U.S.”
These areas were chosen because they have pay gaps averaging more than 10 percentage points above that of the “rest of U.S.” — the baseline adjustment that applies to any federal employee who doesn’t live in an area with its own locality pay. There are 32 locality pay areas identified by the federal government.
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In December, Federal Times reported that the President’s pay agent had identified these areas as part of its annual review process and recommended them for a locality pay adjustment.
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