Federal workers in the Finger Lakes region will get a bigger pay increase in 2024 compared to what they’ve received in the past. 

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the pay gap between federal workers and those outside the federal government doing similar jobs is getting wider. The gap is big enough in our region that the Office of Personnel Management has added Rochester, N.Y. as a new locality pay area.

The change impacts all federal workers in the area including those who work at the VA in Canandaigua, local Social Security offices, IRS, Border Patrol, FEMA and other federal agencies.   

A committee that reviews data annually found that in our area, there has been a gap greater than 10% over the course of the last three years compared to similar positions not just in the private sector but in state and local government too.

“There are base salaries across the country and then you get a supplement that varies by city,“ explains Jacqueline Simon, the Public Policy Director for the American Federation of Government Employees. “Until now, Rochester, NY was in ‘rest of U.S.’ but it met the criteria for becoming a new locality,”

The only thing still up in the air is what exactly the pay increase will be. President Biden has proposed a 4.7% across-the-board increase to basic pay for everyone and then an average 0.5% boost to locality pay for 2024, but that still needs to be approved by Congress.