Federal employees see a pay raise every calendar year. The 2022’s pay raise is going to be calculated using the Employment Cost Index. It’s very parallel to the inflation rate for the year, thus, making it very predictable for us to figure out the pay raise for the next year. The same as the military personnel, federal employees will get a 2.7 percent pay raise. This is higher than previous years, giving a great boost to the GS pay scale.
While the pay raise is 2.7 percent, know that this only applies to the base pay because of the locality adjustment. Federal employees receive a certain percentage higher than their base pay where the portion is determined based on where they work in the United States. As you can imagine, the higher the cost of living, the higher the locality pay. Having that said, the actual pay raise is going to be higher than 2.7 percent as this applies to the base pay only.
Increase in locality pay
The increase in locality pay adjustments happens rarely compared to the pay raise federal employees get every year. For the time being, a raise in the locality adjustment isn’t likely to happen for 2022. Biden’s plan for boosting the General Schedule pay scale didn’t mention an adjustment to the locality pay, and the lawmakers aren’t pushing for any higher. Check your state’s locality pay adjustment and see how much you’re going to get on top of your base pay.
The 2.7 percent pay raise looks to be certain right now but the Congress and the White House have to agree with them. The budget is usually finalized at the end of the year. Until then, it won’t be announced by the federal government. It’s best to not make plans for the future considering the final pay raise is going to be as stated. We highly suggest waiting for the end of November so that it’s finalized, but considering that the inflation is higher than in recent years, a pay raise close to 3 percent is more than probable.