Gap Varies Significantly among Localities

The latest pay gap data show that there are significant differences among localities for purposes of locality pay. Under the pay law, the government is supposed to use locality pay to bring salaries to within a “target” figure of within 5 percent of comparability. That was supposed to have been done by now but hasn’t been, largely due to lack of confidence in the pay gap figures and lack of money to devote to raises. Taking into account the locality adjustments that have built up since that system started more than a decade ago, the “target” pay gap in the RUS locality now stands at just 1.58 percent, with remaining gaps of less than 5 percent in the Columbus, Houston, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Richmond localities. By contrast, the gap is 20.97 percent in San Francisco and 20.43 percent in New York. Other areas with the highest reported gaps are Washington, D.C., Hartford, San Diego, Sacramento, Boston and Dallas.