After the usual long and arduous process, the federal pay raise for 2017 encountered a new wrinkle.
President Obama issued a “revised alternative pay plan” late last week. (See President Issues 2.1% Pay Raise Plan for Federal Employees) The revision includes an increase in the 2017 locality pay rates over what was issued late in November. (For what was initially issued before the revision, see 2017 Locality Pay Rates for Federal Employees: San Francisco and DC Areas On Top)
While there is still a 1% across the board pay raise, the revised plan provides more money for locality pay. This will provide a higher raise than what was in the original alternative pay plan that would have provided an average pay raise of 1.6%. (See Alternative Pay Plan Submitted for Federal Employees in 2017: 1.6% Average Raise)
The revised plan for 2017 will, instead, provide an average 2017 pay raise of 2.1%.
So what does that mean in practical terms for your paycheck in 2017? Below is a list of the 2016 locality pay areas with the locality pay rate for the current year (2016) in addition to the 2017 locality pay rate.
The final column displays the percentage of the differential between the 2016 and 2017 locality pay rate.
The “Alternative Plan for 2017 Locality Pay Rates” was posted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The pay differential was calculated by FedSmith.
The 2017 pay tables are usually issued by OPM when the president issues an executive order. In 2015, the executive order for the 2016 rates was issued on December 18th.
Keep in mind that the increase illustrated below is the change in the differential of the locality pay rates between 2016 and 2017. The across-the-board increase for General Schedule employees will be in addition to the locality increase.
San Jose-San Francisco Area Biggest Winner With 2017 Locality Pay
Here are the five areas with the largest locality pay increases for 2017:
- San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA: 2.42%
- Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA: 2.32%
- San Diego-Carlsbad, CA: 2.25%
- Laredo, TX: 2.09%
- New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA: 2.02%
The rate differential between 2016 and 2017 for the “rest of the U.S.” will be 0.71%.
The Federal Salary Council recommended adding the Virginia Beach, VA area and Burlington, VT areas as new locality pay areas for 2017. These areas are not been included in the 2017 pay rates. (See New Federal Employee Locality Pay Areas for 2017?) Instead, adding these new locality pay areas will require going through the regulatory process.
These two new areas will likely be included in the 2018 locality pay areas rather than 2017. (See Federal Employee Locality Pay Update: Holding Off Burlington and Virginia Beach)
Here are the revised locality pay rates for 2017.
2017 Locality Pay Rates With Increase for 2017
| Locality | 2016 | 2017 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 25.16% | 27.13% | 1.97% |
| Albany-Schenectady, NY | 14.49% | 15.85% | 1.36% |
| Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Las Vegas, NM | 14.37% | 15.36% | 0.99% |
| Atlanta—Athens-Clarke County—Sandy Springs, GA-AL | 19.58% | 20.70% | 1.12% |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX | 14.51% | 15.97% | 1.46% |
| Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME | 25.19% | 26.73% | 1.54% |
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | 17.31% | 18.66% | 1.35% |
| Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC | 14.44% | 15.65% | 1.21% |
| Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI | 25.44% | 26.85% | 1.41% |
| Cincinnati-Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY-IN | 18.76% | 19.52% | 0.76% |
| Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH | 18.87% | 19.71% | 0.84% |
| Colorado Springs, CO | 14.52% | 15.99% | 1.47% |
| Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH | 17.41% | 18.49% | 1.08% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK | 21.04% | 22.61% | 1.57% |
| Davenport-Moline, IA-IL | 14.43% | 15.56% | 1.13% |
| Dayton-Springfield-Sidney, OH | 16.50% | 17.59% | 1.09% |
| Denver-Aurora, CO | 22.93% | 24.65% | 1.72% |
| Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI | 24.40% | 25.68% | 1.28% |
| Harrisburg-Lebanon, PA | 14.47% | 15.63% | 1.16% |
| Hartford-West Hartford, CT-MA | 26.20% | 27.57% | 1.37% |
| Hawaii | 16.81% | 17.92% | 1.11% |
| Houston-The Woodlands, TX | 29.11% | 30.97% | 1.86% |
| Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL | 16.37% | 17.82% | 1.45% |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie, IN | 14.92% | 15.85% | 0.93% |
| Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS | 14.49% | 15.59% | 1.10% |
| Laredo, TX | 14.59% | 16.68% | 2.09% |
| Las Vegas-Henderson, NV-AZ | 14.55% | 15.93% | 1.38% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA | 27.65% | 29.65% | 2.00% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie, FL | 21.05% | 22.13% | 1.08% |
| Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI | 18.39% | 19.61% | 1.22% |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI | 21.30% | 22.72% | 1.42% |
| New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA | 29.20% | 31.22% | 2.02% |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 14.42% | 15.48% | 1.06% |
| Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 22.22% | 23.87% | 1.65% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 17.12% | 18.57% | 1.45% |
| Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV | 16.68% | 17.86% | 1.18% |
| Portland-Vancouver-Salem, OR-WA | 20.69% | 21.95% | 1.26% |
| Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 17.94% | 19.02% | 1.08% |
| Richmond, VA | 16.76% | 18.19% | 1.43% |
| Sacramento-Roseville, CA-NV | 22.61% | 24.14% | 1.53% |
| San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 24.73% | 26.98% | 2.25% |
| San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA | 35.75% | 38.17% | 2.42% |
| Seattle-Tacoma, WA | 22.26% | 24.24% | 1.98% |
| St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL | 14.49% | 15.83% | 1.34% |
| Tucson-Nogales, AZ | 14.51% | 15.66% | 1.15% |
| Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA | 24.78% | 27.10% | 2.32% |
| Rest of U.S. | 14.35% | 15.06% | 0.71% |
