What are locality pay adjustments for 2025 GS base pay and how do they vary by region?
Executive summary
In 2025 the GS base pay received a 1.7% across‑the‑board increase and locality payments added an average of about 0.3%, producing an overall average raise of roughly 2% for most General Schedule employees (1.7% base + ~0.3% locality) [1] [2]. Locality rates vary widely by region: OPM published locality percentages for 58 locality pay areas in 2025 that range from about 17.06% (Rest of U.S.) to as high as 46.34% (San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland), with major metros such as New York (37.95%), Washington DC (33.94%) and Los Angeles (36.47%) among the highest [2] [3] [4].
1. What “locality pay” is and why it matters
Locality pay is a percentage added to the uniform GS base table to reduce pay gaps between federal and non‑federal pay in different labor markets; OPM sets locality percentages based on Bureau of Labor Statistics survey comparisons and the President’s Pay Agent/ Federal Salary Council process [5] [6]. The result is that two employees at the same GS grade and step can receive materially different total pay simply because of their duty station: locality multipliers are applied to the base GS table to create locality‑adjusted pay tables used to compute biweekly and annual pay [7] [1].
2. How the 2025 adjustment was structured
For 2025 the President authorized a 1.7% across‑the‑board increase to the GS non‑locality base table and locality payments that, in aggregate, cost about 0.3% of basic pay—producing an average effective increase of 2.0% across civilian pay systems [2] [8]. Agencies and payroll offices were instructed to implement the change in January 2025; OPM published the final pay schedules and locality percentages in the Federal Register and on its website [2] [9].
3. The geographic spread: big differences among localities
OPM’s 2025 tables show a large spread in locality percentages across the country. High‑cost metro areas carry very large adjustments—San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland reached 46.34%, New York‑Newark 37.95%, Los Angeles about 36.47%, and Washington‑Baltimore‑Arlington 33.94%—while the Rest of U.S. (RUS) and lower‑cost localities remain near the low‑teens to high‑teens (RUS listed at about 17.06% in the Federal Register) [2] [3] [4]. That spread produces different effective raises in January 2025: Federal News Network calculated the range of actual raises for 2025 from a high of 2.35% in San Francisco to a low of 1.88% in Cleveland because the 0.3% locality component distributes unevenly [10].
4. Boundaries and expansions changed who benefits
The Federal Salary Council and Pay Agent periodically recommend boundary changes and expansions; for 2025 the council proposed expanding 22 existing locality areas (which OPM implemented in prior years in other adjustments), and recent years also added localities such as Fresno, Reno, Rochester and Spokane—moves that shifted tens of thousands of employees from the generic RUS rate into higher, metro‑specific rates [11] [12]. These boundary decisions carry an implicit political and workforce management agenda: they redistribute budgeted comparability dollars to recruitment/retention hotspots identified by pay gap data [6].
5. Limits, special rates and caps that alter outcomes
Not every GS employee’s pay can rise indefinitely via locality. OPM may approve special rate tables for particular occupations with acute recruitment problems; where a special rate exceeds the locality‑adjusted GS rate, the higher special rate applies [13]. Also, by statute locality payments for high earners are effectively capped by linkage to Executive Schedule Level IV for certain pay compression issues, a point raised repeatedly in the Federal Salary Council’s 2025 report [6].
6. What this means for employees and employers
Employees in high‑locality areas get materially higher total pay than identical GS colleagues in low‑locality areas; that both reduces turnover pressure in expensive labor markets and creates pay compression and equity debates elsewhere [6] [5]. For payroll and HR shops, the 2025 change meant updating personnel actions and pay tables to reflect the 1.7% base increase and locality multipliers effective in January, with agencies using OPM guidance to process actions [8] [7].
Limitations and how to check your exact number: OPM’s official 2025 GS locality pay tables and the Federal Register list the exact percentage for each locality and the locality‑adjusted pay tables; state‑by‑state or county‑by‑county inclusion rules matter for determining which rate applies to any single employee [2] [9]. If you need a precise salary calculation, consult OPM’s 2025 locality tables or your agency payroll office because available sources do not mention your individual county or agency coding here.