Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA would become a new locality, encompassing Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa and Tulare Counties. Image: PredragLasica/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe proposed creation of four new GS locality pay zones and the widening of most existing ones would represent the largest expansion of specific locality rates since 2016, although the upcoming changes would affect only about a third as many federal employees.
Rules proposed by the OPM, designed to be effective with the January 2024 pay raises, would benefit some 33,000 federal employees by moving them into a zone with a specific locality rate and out of the catchall “rest of the U.S.” locality, where pay rates are the lowest.
About half of that would be due to creating new localities in the Fresno, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Rochester, N.Y.; and Spokane, Wash., areas. The other half would be due to pulling additional counties into most of the existing 51 city-based pay zones by loosening rules on attaching outlying areas to a zone and by using updated definitions of metropolitan areas.
In the most recent major expansion of localities, effective in 2016, 13 new city areas were created and the boundaries of most of the previously existing locality zones were expanded, benefitting more than 100,000 employees in all.
Employees working in places to be added to the existing localities—locality pay is based on where employees work, not where they live—can get a general idea of the value to them in the immediate raise by comparing their current “RUS” rate to the rate of the pertinent city locality here.
However, the exact value for those employees is to be determined in the fall, following release of Bureau of Labor Statistics data on comparisons of federal vs. non-federal salaries on a local basis. Those figures are then run through a formula under federal pay law to produce amounts that a salary council then recommends to administration officials.
That process also will determine the new specific rates for the four localities to be created.
Raises typically are finalized by an executive order late in the calendar year and effective with the first full pay period of the new year, which for 2024 will begin January 13 for most employees. The size of the raise—and how much of it is designated as locality pay vs. paid across the board—is still to be determined in the congressional budget process.
The boundaries of the four planned new localities would be:
Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA—Fresno County, CA; Kings County, CA; Madera County, CA; Mariposa County, CA; and Tulare County, CA.
Reno-Fernley, NV—Churchill County, NV; Lyon County, NV; Storey County, NV; and Washoe County, NV.
Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY—Genesee County, NY; Livingston County, NY; Monroe County, NY; Ontario County, NY; Orleans County, NY; Seneca County, NY; Wayne County, NY; and Yates County, NY.
Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d’Alene, WA-ID—Benewah County, ID; Kootenai County, ID; Shoshone County, ID; Ferry County, WA; Lincoln County, WA; Pend Oreille County, WA; Spokane County, WA; Stevens County, WA.
The areas added to existing localities would be:
Albany-Schenectady, NY-MA—Greene County, NY; and Hamilton County, NY.
Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Las Vegas, NM—Mora County, NM.
Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA-AL—Cherokee County, AL; Cleburne County, AL; Lee County, AL; Randolph County, AL; Russell County, AL; Banks County, GA; Chattahoochee County, GA; Elbert County, GA; Floyd County, GA; Franklin County, GA; Gilmer County, GA; Greene County, GA; Habersham County, GA; Harris County, GA; Lumpkin County, GA; Marion County, GA; Muscogee County, GA; Putnam County, GA; Rabun County, GA; Stephens County, GA; Stewart County, GA; Talbot County, GA; Taliaferro County, GA; and White County, GA.
Austin-Round Rock, TX—Blanco County, TX; Burnet County, TX; Lee County, TX; and Milam County, TX.
Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega, AL—Clay County, AL; Etowah County, AL; Greene County, AL; Hale County, AL; Pickens County, AL; Tuscaloosa County, AL; and Winston County, AL.
Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-ME—Windham County, CT (redesignated from Hartford-West Hartford CT-MA locality pay area); Dukes County, MA; Nantucket County, MA; Carroll County, NH; Cheshire County, NH; Grafton County, NH; Sullivan County, NH; Orange County, VT; and Windsor County, VT.
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY—Allegany County, NY; and Wyoming County, NY.
Burlington-South Burlington, VT—Addison County, VT; Lamoille County, VT; and Washington County, VT.
Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC—Alexander County, NC; Anson County, NC; Burke County, NC; Caldwell County, NC; Catawba County, NC; and Chesterfield County, SC.
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI—Boone County, IL; Iroquois County, IL; Ogle County, IL; Stephenson County, IL; Winnebago County, IL; and Starke County, IN.
Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN—Ripley County, IN; Switzerland County, IN; Carroll County, KY; Fleming County, KY; Lewis County, KY; Owen County, KY; Robertson County, KY; Adams County, OH; and Highland County, OH.
Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH—Ashland County, OH; Columbiana County, OH; Crawford County, OH; Holmes County, OH; Mahoning County, OH; Richland County, OH; Trumbull County, OH; Wayne County, OH; and Mercer County, PA.
Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH—Coshocton County, OH; Hardin County, OH; Morgan County, OH; Noble County, OH; Pike County, OH; and Vinton County, OH.
Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX—Duval County, TX; Live Oak County, TX; and Refugio County, TX.
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK—Carter County, OK; Love County, OK; Hill County, TX; Jack County, TX; Montague County, TX; Rains County, TX; and Van Zandt County, TX.
Davenport-Moline, IA-IL—Lee County, IL; Whiteside County, IL; Cedar County, IA; Jackson County, IA; and Louisa County, IA.
Dayton-Springfield-Sidney, OH—Allen County, OH; Auglaize County, OH; Mercer County, OH; and Van Wert County, OH.
Denver-Aurora, CO—Lincoln County, CO.
Des Moines-Ames-West Des Moines, IA—Adair County, IA; Clarke County, IA; Greene County, IA; Hamilton County, IA; Lucas County, IA; Mahaska County, IA; Marion County, IA; Monroe County, IA; and Poweshiek County, IA.
Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI—Clinton County, MI; Eaton County, MI; Huron County, MI; Ingham County, MI; Jackson County, MI; Sanilac County, MI; Shiawassee County, MI; and Tuscola County, MI.
Harrisburg-Lebanon, PA—Juniata County, PA.
Houston-The Woodlands, TX—Colorado County, TX; Grimes County, TX; Jackson County, TX; and Madison County, TX.
Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL— Colbert County, AL; Lauderdale County, AL; and Lincoln County, TN.
Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie, IN—Benton County, IN; Blackford County, IN; Carroll County, IN; Clinton County, IN; Fayette County, IN; Fountain County, IN; Lawrence County, IN; Monroe County, IN; Owen County, IN; Randolph County, IN; Rush County, IN; Tippecanoe County, IN; Tipton County, IN; Warren County, IN; and Wayne County, IN.
Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS—Anderson County, KS; Carroll County, MO; Daviess County, MO; Gentry County, MO; Henry County, MO; and Holt County, MO.
Laredo, TX—Jim Hogg County, TX; and La Salle County, TX.
Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI—Fond du Lac County, WI; and Sheboygan County, WI.
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI—Blue Earth County, MN; Brown County, MN; Dodge County, MN; Fillmore County, MN; Kanabec County, MN; Meeker County, MN; Morrison County, MN; Mower County, MN; Nicollet County, MN; Olmsted County, MN; Pine County, MN; Steele County, MN; Wabasha County, MN; Waseca County, MN; and Polk County, WI.
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA—Sullivan County, NY; and Wayne County, PA.
Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA—Fremont County, IA; Shelby County, IA; and Burt County, NE.
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD—Sussex County, DE; Somerset County, MD; Wicomico County, MD; Worcester County, MD; and Schuylkill County, PA.
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ—Gila County, AZ.
Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV—Belmont County, OH; Cambria County, PA; Greene County, PA; Somerset County, PA; Marshall County, WV; and Ohio County, WV.
Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA—Wahkiakum County, WA.
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC—Caswell County, NC; Edgecombe County, NC; Halifax County, NC; Moore County, NC; Nash County, NC; Northampton County, NC; Warren County, NC; and Wilson County, NC.
Richmond, VA—Brunswick County, VA; Essex County, VA; Greensville County, VA; Nottoway County, VA; and Emporia city, VA.
Sacramento-Roseville, CA-NV— Alpine County, CA; Amador County, CA; Butte County, CA; Colusa County, CA; and Sierra County, CA.
San Antonio-New Braunfels-Pearsall, TX—Gillespie County, TX; Gonzales County, TX; Karnes County, TX; Kerr County, TX; and McMullen County, TX.
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA—Calaveras County, CA; Merced County, CA; and Stanislaus County, CA.
Seattle-Tacoma, WA—Grays Harbor County, WA; Pacific County, WA; and San Juan County, WA.
St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL—Fayette County, IL; Greene County, IL; Montgomery County, IL; Randolph County, IL; Washington County, IL; Crawford County, MO; Gasconade County, MO; Iron County, MO; Madison County, MO; Montgomery County, MO; Pike County, MO; Ste. Genevieve County, MO; and Washington County, MO.
Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC—Chowan County, NC; Hertford County, NC; Middlesex County, VA; Southampton County, VA; Surry County, VA; and Franklin city, VA.
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA—Allegany County, MD; Caroline County, MD; Fulton County, PA; Caroline County, VA (redesignated from Richmond, VA locality pay area); Madison County, VA; Orange County, VA; Shenandoah County, VA; Westmoreland County, VA; Hardy County, WV; and Mineral County, WV.
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