Locality pay 2026: which area your county belongs to

How an area is defined

OPM's 2026 definitions start from the metropolitan statistical areas and combined statistical areas of the Office of Management and Budget. A locality pay area takes the counties of its core, then adds neighboring counties that pass commuting and employment tests set in 5 CFR 531.603. That is how a rural county can belong to a big-city area: enough of its workers commute there. Everything not listed falls into Rest of U.S. Alaska and Hawaii are each a single area that covers the whole state.

Virginia has independent cities that are not part of any county, so Alexandria city and Fairfax County are listed separately and could, in principle, belong to different areas. Baltimore city and St. Louis city are listed the same way.

Worksite, telework and remote work

The rule is in 5 CFR 531.605: you are paid at the locality of your official worksite. If you telework but are scheduled to report to the agency office at least twice each biweekly pay period on a regular and recurring basis, the office is your worksite. If you are not scheduled to report that often, the telework location is the worksite, usually your home. Agencies may make temporary exceptions, for example during a short medical recovery, without changing the worksite.

Two consequences follow. Moving house does not change your pay if you keep reporting to the same office twice a pay period. And changing from regular telework to full remote work can change your area, and your pay, overnight: a GS-12 step 5 who moves from a Washington office to a home in a Rest of U.S. county loses $14,628 a year. The Washington area page lists every county of that area.

Job announcements and transfers

A USAJOBS announcement usually prints a salary range for each duty location. When several locations are listed, each has its own range, because the range is the grade's step 1 to step 10 in that location's area. If you accept a position in another area, your grade and step stay the same and only the locality percentage changes on the day you report. A transfer from Houston to Rest of U.S. at GS-11 step 4 costs $12,590 a year; the opposite move adds the same amount. Relocation incentives and moving expenses are separate and do not change the locality rate.

All 58 areas ranked

Why the gap between areas matters

The difference between the top and the bottom is 29.28 points, or 25.0 % more pay for the same grade and step. Job seekers comparing two offers at the same grade should compare the adjusted rates, not the grade. For retirement, the area of your last three years decides your high-3, so a move to a higher area late in a career raises the pension, and a move to Rest of U.S. lowers it. The high-3 page shows the effect.

How percentages change

Each year the Federal Salary Council, a body of federal pay experts and union representatives, reviews the survey results and recommends new percentages and new areas to the President's Pay Agent. The percentages that actually apply are set by the January executive order. For 2026 the order kept them all at their 2025 values; the 2026 raise page explains what that did to your pay, and the 2027 page the proposal for next year. New areas or changes to county lists take effect only through a regulation that amends 5 CFR 531.603.

Puerto Rico, Guam and the other territories

The Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 phased locality pay into the nonforeign areas listed in 5 CFR 591.205, replacing the old nonforeign cost-of-living allowances. Alaska and Hawaii became separate areas with their own tables. Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the other nonforeign areas are part of Rest of U.S., so a GS-11 step 1 in San Juan earns $74,678, the same as in rural Kansas. Federal employees stationed abroad are outside the locality system altogether.