Those planning to retire soon will benefit from the pay raise in a number of ways. Primarily, your annual leave buy back will be at the new pay rate starting the first pay period of 2020. 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 small 1.6% COLA this year, leaving retirees a little behind the curve when taking inflation into consideration.
Federal civilian employees will see an average 3.1% pay increase starting January 1, 2020; a 2.6% increase in basic pay, with an average 0.5% increase in locality pay. The pay increases for GS employees ranges from 2.85% to 3.52%.
The President signed an Executive Order on December 20th officially averting a second government shutdown in 2019. The 3.1% pay raise 2020 charts are now available along with new paid parental leave benefits providing all federal employees with up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave per year.
The pay raise will take effect with the first full pay period of 2020, which begins Jan. 5. We published the new pay table on December 26th including the locality pay area definitions outlining the pay rates for all regions nationwide.
The rates of basic pay or salaries are included for the following list of statutory pay systems:
- 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
This was the largest annual increase since 2009 when federal employees received a base rate increase of 2.9%. OPM was fast to react to the Presidential Order and released the new tables the day after Christmas.
Following are links to the new 2020 tables, including locality adjustments:
- 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
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Helpful Retirement Planning Tools / Resources
- Retirement Planning Guide
- Social Security Guidance (FERS & CSRS)
- Medicare
- Federal Employee Retirement Benefits Seminars – Check Availability
- Financial Planning Guide
- Master Retiree Contact List (Contact numbers and information)
- 2020 Leave and Schedule Chart (FREE Excel chart tracks all leave balances. Use this chart to set target retirement dates.)
- Annuity Calculator (FREE Excel chart estimates annuity growth)
Last 5 posts by Dennis Damp
- Early Retirement Guide for Federal Employees - June 13th, 2026
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- Retirement Cost Analysis: How to Prepare for Your Future - May 27th, 2026
- How to Increase Your Retirement Income Before You Retire - May 26th, 2026
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.