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Locality Pay Areas

Under 5 U.S.C. 5304(e)(2)(A), the Federal Salary Council made a recommendation to the Pay Agent on the composition of locality pay areas for 2011. This recommendation was transmitted to the Pay Agent in a memorandum dated November 4, 2009. (See Appendix I.)

Evaluating Additional Areas

The Council reviewed pay gaps for Austin, Louisville, and Memphis again this year. These data are from surveys BLS originally conducted as part of its data collection for the RUS locality pay area. BLS informs us that it has completed its sample redesign in these areas.

Table 2. Pay Gaps in Three Areas

MSA means Metropolitan Statistical Area and CSA means Combined Statistical Area as defined by the Office of Management and Budget.

Since the results of small scale surveys conducted by BLS in these areas have been consistently below or just above those for the RUS locality pay area, the Council concluded that Austin, Memphis, and Louisville should remain in the RUS locality pay area and that we should request that BLS produce data for Charlotte and New Orleans in lieu of two of these locations next year. The Council concluded we should continue to monitor Louisville, since its pay gap has been slightly above that for the RUS area.

Charlotte and New Orleans were selected from a listing of metropolitan areas already surveyed by BLS as part of the RUS data collection because of the relatively large number of GS employees in those locations, the size of the nonFederal workforce subject to survey, and generic measures of relative pay levels. While we note that removing locations from the RUS area reduces the amount and quality of data for the RUS area, that such actions may result in requests to remove more areas from the RUS sample, and that BLS may not have the budget to expand future surveys in any of these areas, we approve the Council's recommendation and request that BLS produce data files using our methodology for Charlotte, Louisville, and New Orleans in 2010. BLS need not deliver data files for Austin and Memphis next year.

We also note that the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 extends coverage of the locality pay program to Alaska, Hawaii, and the other non-foreign areas and that Section 1915 includes a sense of Congress that BLS should conduct locality pay salary surveys in Alaska, Hawaii, and the United States Territories including American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. However, BLS recently discontinued its salary surveys in Alaska, is reducing its sample in Honolulu, and does not conduct NCS surveys in the other non-foreign areas. The Pay Agent requests that BLS report to Pay Agent staff on its ability to reinstate the Anchorage survey, increase its sample of establishments in Honolulu, and conduct surveys in the other non-foreign areas.

Defining Locality Pay Areas

The Federal Salary Council reviewed requests from Federal employees in 31 areas for changes in locality pay area boundaries or new locality pay areas. The Council also heard testimony from employees from several of these areas at its public meeting of October 19, 2009. None of these locations meet the current criteria for inclusion in an adjacent locality pay area or can be surveyed by BLS as separate locality pay areas. After reviewing the matter, the Council recommended we not make any of the requested changes for 2011, and we agree.

One reason for the Council's reluctance to recommend changes in pay areas was due to vacancies on the Council. In this regard, the Council plans to hold one or more public meetings within 45 days of appointment of a full complement of members to consider whether data from BLS' Occupational Employment Statistics program could be used in the locality pay program and whether the criteria for evaluating adjacent areas for inclusion in a separate locality pay area should be changed. We look forward to receiving the Council's findings. The Council's 2009 recommendations are in Appendix I.

Locality Pay Areas for 2011

As mentioned above, the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 extends coverage of the locality pay program to employees in Alaska, Hawaii, and the other non-foreign areas beginning in 2010. For 2010, the statute provides that employees in each of these areas receive 1/3 of the locality pay percentage approved for the RUS locality pay area. In 2011, some of these locations could be separate locality pay areas. Under the provisions of the law, the Federal Salary Council will have to make a recommendation on and we must establish by regulation new or revised locality pay areas for 2011 to accommodate the non-foreign areas. Due to the timing of the bill's passage, these actions will occur outside of normal reporting cycle under 5 U.S.C. 5304. With the exception noted above for the non-foreign areas, the Pay Agent intends to provide for the same locality pay areas in 2011 as in 2010.

1. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL—consisting of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL CSA;
2. Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH-RI-ME—consisting of the Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH CSA, plus Barnstable County, MA, and Berwick, Eliot, Kittery, South Berwick, and York towns in York County, ME;
3. Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY—consisting of the Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY CSA;
4. Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI—consisting of the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA;
5. Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN—consisting of the Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN CSA;
6. Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH—consisting of the Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH CSA;
7. Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH—consisting of the Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH CSA;
8. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX—consisting of the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CSA;
9. Dayton-Springfield-Greenville, OH—consisting of the Dayton-Springfield-Greenville, OH CSA;
10. Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO—consisting of the Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO CSA, plus the Ft. Collins-Loveland, CO MSA;
11. Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI—consisting of the Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI CSA, plus Lenawee County, MI;
12. Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, CT-MA—consisting of the Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, CT CSA, plus the Springfield, MA MSA and New London County, CT;
13. Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX—consisting of the Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX CSA;
14. Huntsville-Decatur, AL—consisting of the Huntsville-Decatur, AL CSA;
15. Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, IN—consisting of the Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, IN CSA, plus Grant County, IN;
16. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA—consisting of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA, plus the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA MSA and all of Edwards Air Force Base, CA;
17. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL—consisting of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA, plus Monroe County, FL;
18. Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI—consisting of the Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI CSA;
19. Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI—consisting of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI CSA;
20. New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA—consisting of the New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA, plus Monroe County, PA, Warren County, NJ, and all of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst;
21. Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD—consisting of the Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA, plus Kent County, DE, Atlantic County, NJ, and Cape May County, NJ;
22. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ—consisting of the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA;
23. Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA—consisting of the Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA CSA;
24. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA—consisting of the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA, plus Marion County, OR, and Polk County, OR;
25. Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC—consisting of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC CSA, plus the Fayetteville, NC MSA, the Goldsboro, NC MSA, and the Federal Correctional Complex Butner, NC;
26. Richmond, VA—consisting of the Richmond, VA MSA;
27. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA-NV—consisting of the Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA-NV CSA, plus Carson City, NV;
28. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA—consisting of the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA MSA;
29. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA—consisting of the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA, plus the Salinas, CA MSA and San Joaquin County, CA;
30. Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA—consisting of the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA CSA, plus Whatcom County, WA;
31. Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA—consisting of the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA, plus the Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV MSA, the York-Hanover-Gettysburg, PA CSA, and King George County, VA; and
32. Rest of U.S.—consisting of those portions of the continental United States not located within another locality pay area.

Component counties of MSAs and CSAs are identified in OMB Bulletins available on the Internet at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/index.html