On December 21st, 2023, President Joe Biden signed an executive order finalizing his 2024 pay raise for federal employees. As a result, more than 2-million federal workers will receive an average 5.2% pay raise starting in the first full pay period of January, 2024.
The Largest Raise For GS Workers In Over 40 Years
The 2024 increase is the largest pay raise for federal employees since the Jimmy Carter Administration in 1980. It’s also a 0.6% increase over the 2023 pay raise. Add to this, military members are set to receive a 5.2% raise starting in January through the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Keep in mind that the 5.2% raise for General Schedule (GS) workers is an average. All GS employees will get a 4.7% base pay raise before the 0.5% locality pay increase is applied. Depending on their job location, some workers will receive more while others will receive less.
“For 2024, federal workers in the Seattle-Tacoma, Washington locality pay area will receive the biggest raise at 5.7%.”
How Locality Pay Works
Back in 1990, as part of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA), the federal government established locality pay to mitigate the growing wage gap between private sector workers and federal employees performing similar jobs in the same locations.
For 2024, federal workers in the Seattle-Tacoma, Washington locality pay area will receive the biggest raise at 5.7%. The second highest is the San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland, California area at 5.62%. GS workers in the national capital region will receive a 5.31% pay raise while those in the Houston-The Woodlands, Texas area will receive a 4.89% raise.
In addition to the expansion of some existing locality pay areas, four newly-created areas will provide over 33,000 federal workers with a higher pay raise in 2024:
- The new Fresno-Madera-Hanford, California locality will receive a 5.28% raise.
- The new Reno-Fernley, Nevada locality will receive a 5.25% raise.
- The new Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, New York locality will receive a 5.46% raise.
- The new Spokane-Spokane Valley-Coeur d’Alene, Washington-Idaho locality will receive a 5.31% raise.
The 2024 Pay Raise Helps Increase Your High-3 Salary
If you’re planning to retire within the next couple of years, the 2024 pay raise will help increase your FERS annuity (pension) pension when the OPM calculates your High-3 salary. As you know, your High-3 is the highest average basic pay you’ve earned during any three consecutive years of creditable service. For most federal workers, this is usually the last three years of their careers. Even better — a bigger paycheck means you can contribute more to your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) to grow your retirement nest egg.
