Those planning to retire soon will benefit somewhat from the small 1% federal employee’s pay raise this year. Primarily, your annual leave buy back will be at the new pay rate starting the first pay period of 2021. If you plan on staying another year or longer the raise will increase your high three average earnings that is used to determine your monthly annuity. Retirees ended up with a 1.3% COLA this year, a bit more than the federal employees increase, still not enough considering inflation and especially higher health care costs.
Request a Federal Retirement Report™ to review projected annuity payments,
income verses expenses, FEGLI, and TSP projections.
The President signed an Executive Order in December. The 1% pay raise 2021 charts are now available along with all special rates and wage grade salaries.
The pay raise will take effect with the first full pay period of 2021. We published the new pay table on January 1, including the locality pay area definitions outlining the pay rates for all regions nationwide.
The rates of basic pay or salaries of the statutory pay systems are included. The general categories are listed below:
- The General Schedule
- The Foreign Service Schedule
- schedules for the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs
- Senior Executive Service
- Certain Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries
- The Executive Schedule
OPM was fast to react to the Presidential Order and released the new tables in late December.
Following are links to the new 2021 locality pay tables:
- Albany – Schenectady, NY
- Albuquerque – Santa Fe – Las Vegas, NM
- Atlanta – Athens – Clarke County – Sandy Springs, GA-AL
- Austin – Round Rock, TX
- Boston – Worcester – Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT-ME
- Buffalo – Cheektowaga, NY
- Charlotte – Concord, NC-SC
- Chicago – Naperville, IL-IN-WI
- Cincinnati – Wilmington – Maysville, OH-KY-IN
- Cleveland – Akron – Canton, OH
- Colorado Springs, CO
- Columbus – Marion – Zanesville, OH
- Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice, TX
- Dallas – Fort Worth, TX-OK
- Davenport – Moline, IA-IL
- Dayton – Springfield – Sidney, OH
- Denver – Aurora, CO
- Detroit – Warren – Ann Arbor, MI
- Harrisburg – Lebanon, PA
- Hartford – West Hartford, CT-MA
- Houston – The Woodlands, TX
- Huntsville – Decatur – Albertville, AL
- Indianapolis – Carmel – Muncie, IN
- Kansas City – Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS
- Laredo, TX
- Las Vegas – Henderson, NV-AZ
- Los Angeles – Long Beach, CA
- Miami – Ft. Lauderdale – Port St. Lucie, FL
- Milwaukee – Racine – Waukesha, WI
- Minneapolis – St. Paul, MN-WI
- New York – Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA
- Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA
- Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, FL
- Philadelphia – Reading – Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD
- Phoenix – Mesa – Scottsdale, AZ
- Pittsburgh – New Castle – Weirton, PA-OH-WV
- Portland – Vancouver – Salem, OR-WA
- Raleigh-Durham – Chapel Hill, NC
- Richmond, VA
- Sacramento – Roseville, CA-NV
- San Antonio – New Braunfels – Pearsall, TX
- San Diego – Carlsbad, CA
- San Jose – San Francisco – Oakland, CA
- Seattle – Tacoma, WA
- Louis – St. Charles – Farmington, MO-IL
- Tucson – Nogales, AZ
- Virginia Beach – Norfolk, VA-NC
- Washington – Baltimore – Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA
- Rest of US – RUS
- Alaska
- Hawaii
Click here for: Special Rates Tables
Helpful Retirement Planning Tools
- Retirement Planning For Federal Employees & Annuitant
- GS Pay Scales
- Budget Work Sheet
- Medicare Guide
- Social Security Guide
- Master Retiree Contact List (Important contact numbers and information)
- 2021 Leave and Schedule Chart (Use this chart to set target retirement dates.)
- Annuity Calculator (FREE Excel chart estimates annuity growth)
Disclaimer: The information provided may not cover all aspect of unique or special circumstances, federal regulations, medical procedures, and benefit information are subject to change. To ensure the accuracy of this information, contact relevant parties for assistance including OPM’s retirement center. Over time, various dynamic economic factors relied upon as a basis for this article may change. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation and this service is not affiliated with OPM or any federal entity. You should consult with a financial, medical or human resource professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher or author shall be liable for any loss or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Last 5 posts by Dennis Damp
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Dennis V. Damp is an author, retired federal manager, business owner, career counselor and veteran. Damp is the author of 28 books, a recognized benefits expert, and a retired federal manager with 35 years’ service. Dennis has been a guest on hundreds of radio talk shows, CNN’s YOUR MONEY and the Lou Dobbs Cable TV shows, lectured at universities and colleges, produced Internet web sites and training videos, and has written hundreds of articles for national magazines and newspapers. His books have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times and U.S. News & World Report.
Dennis joined the Air Force in 1968 and spent over three years on active duty and an additional seven years with the Air National Guard. He was hired by the Department of Defense (DOD) after leaving active duty and transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1975. He spent the remainder of his career in various positions with the FAA. His last position was technical operations manager at the Pittsburgh International Airport’s air traffic control tower.