All 58 OPM-defined locality pay areas for 2026, ranked by adjustment percentage. Search by city or state. Sample salary shown for GS-12 Step 5.
The General Schedule base pay is adjusted upward based on the cost of labor in each OPM-defined locality pay area. The adjustment ranges from 17.06% (Rest of U.S.) to 46.34% (San Francisco) in 2026. Your locality-adjusted salary = Base Pay x (1 + Locality Rate). See methodology →
| Locality Pay Area | State | Adjustment | GS-12 Step 5 |
|---|
San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA carries the highest adjustment at 46.34% in 2026. The top five are: San Francisco (46.34%), New York–Newark (37.95%), Los Angeles (36.47%), Houston (35.00%), and Washington DC–Baltimore (33.94%). At GS-13 Step 1, the difference between the lowest and highest locality is over $26,000 per year.
The Rest of U.S. adjustment is 17.06% for 2026 — the lowest of all 58 pay areas. It applies to federal employees whose official duty station is not located within one of the 57 named metropolitan locality pay areas. Despite being called “Rest of U.S.,” it is still a locality adjustment; there is no GS pay area with zero percent adjustment.
OPM defines locality pay areas based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data comparing federal and non-federal pay rates in each labor market. The Federal Salary Council recommends boundaries, which are approved through the pay agent process. Areas generally follow Census Bureau metropolitan statistical area definitions, though OPM boundaries may differ by county. Employees are assigned to a locality based on their official duty station, not where they live.
Yes. Your FERS pension is based on your High-3 average salary, which uses locality-adjusted base pay. A higher locality adjustment means a higher High-3, which means a larger pension for life. If you transfer to a higher-pay locality for even the final three years of your career, it can permanently increase your retirement income. Use the FERS Estimator to model the impact.