Raises Would Range up to 5.62 Percent

Assuming that a 3.1 percent raise is ultimately enacted, 2.1 percent of that most likely would be paid across the board and the money for the other percentage point divided up as locality pay—as has been recommended by the Federal Salary Council, whose recommendations typically are followed—the January raises among the 32 general schedule locality areas would vary by several percentage points, depending on local wage surveys. The highest raise would be 5.62 percent in Raleigh, N.C., a new locality for 2006, followed by San Francisco, 3.95 percent, New York, 3.77 percent, and Buffalo (another new locality), 3.75 percent. Employees in the largest locality, the “rest of the U.S.”—including areas not within one of the metropolitan zones—would receive a 2.83 percent raise. Three areas that have been separate localities but that will be dropped for 2006 and folded into the RUS locality would get lower raises—2.8 percent in Orlando, 2.49 percent in St. Louis and 2.25 percent in Kansas City.