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Old 03-07-2016, 02:10 PM
 
994 posts, read 1,541,027 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
Federal government jobs have a cost of living adjustment (COLA) as a percentage of base pay which is dependent on the metropolitan area (CSA). Locality pay is set by comparing General Schedule (GS) and non-Federal pay in each locality pay area, based on salary surveys conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Atlanta's COLA is 19.58%; here are the rates for a few other metros:

Charlotte: 14.44%
Chicago: 25.44%
Cleveland: 18.87%
Dallas-Fort Worth: 21.04%
Detroit: 24.40%
Houston: 29.11%
Miami: 21.05%
Philadelphia: 22.22%
Phoenix: 17.12%
Seattle: 22.26%
St. Louis: 14.49%
DC-Baltimore: 24.78%

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-over...016/saltbl.pdf
Okay, translate this for the masses, please.
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Old 03-07-2016, 02:20 PM
 
1,145 posts, read 4,212,916 times
Reputation: 971
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ant131531 View Post
Uh, Alpharetta, Johns Creek and areas around there are pretty expensive.
They are expensive by Atlanta standards, but you can still be a middle class couple and afford to buy a small house in those areas.

Cities like Chicago, Boston, NYC, etc have truly exclusive suburbs where even the cheapest SFH is going to be unattainable for middle class families. Metro Atlanta doesn't have that type of exclusive suburb you see in other cities. Not saying that's a good thing or bad thing, it's just the way it is.
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Old 03-07-2016, 04:09 PM
 
Location: Sweet Home...CHICAGO
3,421 posts, read 5,219,515 times
Reputation: 4355
Quote:
Originally Posted by Go Blue 99 View Post
They are expensive by Atlanta standards, but you can still be a middle class couple and afford to buy a small house in those areas.

Cities like Chicago, Boston, NYC, etc have truly exclusive suburbs where even the cheapest SFH is going to be unattainable for middle class families. Metro Atlanta doesn't have that type of exclusive suburb you see in other cities. Not saying that's a good thing or bad thing, it's just the way it is.
Evanston is not an exclusive suburb. Yes it located on the north shore and is home to Northwestern University, and it has some expensive housing, but it also has middle and low income housing as well and some sketchy neighborhoods.


Apartments in Evanston rent from $900 to over $5,000 a month. Apartments in Alpharetta rent for the exact same. Evanston is very urban, it is on the lake, has beaches and expansive public transportation. The same can't be said about Alpharetta, yet it costs just as much to live there.
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Old 03-07-2016, 08:00 PM
 
37,882 posts, read 41,956,856 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hautemomma View Post
Okay, translate this for the masses, please.
It's a cost of living differential based on the assessed cost of living for those metropolitan areas.
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Old 03-08-2016, 06:32 AM
 
16,212 posts, read 10,823,172 times
Reputation: 8442
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
Federal government jobs have a cost of living adjustment (COLA) as a percentage of base pay which is dependent on the metropolitan area (CSA). Locality pay is set by comparing General Schedule (GS) and non-Federal pay in each locality pay area, based on salary surveys conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Atlanta's COLA is 19.58%; here are the rates for a few other metros:

Charlotte: 14.44%
Chicago: 25.44%
Cleveland: 18.87%
Dallas-Fort Worth: 21.04%
Detroit: 24.40%
Houston: 29.11%
Miami: 21.05%
Philadelphia: 22.22%
Phoenix: 17.12%
Seattle: 22.26%
St. Louis: 14.49%
DC-Baltimore: 24.78%

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-over...016/saltbl.pdf
I haven't looked at these schedules in years, probably since the 1990s, does the schedule above mean that Detroit has a high COL compared to Atlanta???

If so, that is truly crazy! Detroit and its suburbs are super cheap compared to Atlanta. I would think Atlanta and Chicago are equal in COL due to Atlanta's very high utility rates versus Chicago's very high taxes.

If this is what the schedules are saying - that Detroit has a higher COL than Atlanta, then I would suggest switching the Atlanta level with Detroit's lol. But maybe I'm reading it wrong. As stated, its been years since I looked at the schedules.
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Old 03-08-2016, 06:35 AM
 
16,212 posts, read 10,823,172 times
Reputation: 8442
Quote:
Originally Posted by Go Blue 99 View Post
They are expensive by Atlanta standards, but you can still be a middle class couple and afford to buy a small house in those areas.

Cities like Chicago, Boston, NYC, etc have truly exclusive suburbs where even the cheapest SFH is going to be unattainable for middle class families. Metro Atlanta doesn't have that type of exclusive suburb you see in other cities. Not saying that's a good thing or bad thing, it's just the way it is.
Chicago has very few exclusive suburbs. I have family and friends in Chicago who make around the same as my own family makes and they live in very nice suburban communities like Oak Park and Evanston mentioned above in Chicago. I also know a couple who lives in Naperville and you can find homes there as well between $100k (condos mostly) and $450k same as the high end suburbs in Atlanta.
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Old 03-08-2016, 07:09 AM
 
Location: Sweet Home...CHICAGO
3,421 posts, read 5,219,515 times
Reputation: 4355
Quote:
Originally Posted by residinghere2007 View Post
Chicago has very few exclusive suburbs. I have family and friends in Chicago who make around the same as my own family makes and they live in very nice suburban communities like Oak Park and Evanston mentioned above in Chicago. I also know a couple who lives in Naperville and you can find homes there as well between $100k (condos mostly) and $450k same as the high end suburbs in Atlanta.
This...
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Old 03-08-2016, 07:15 AM
 
1,151 posts, read 1,309,479 times
Reputation: 831
Quote:
Originally Posted by brownhornet View Post
How the hell are you going to tell me what I had lol. And yes, you could get a nice apartment here for $650 easily if you moved in at the right time. I mean i've only been in this area for 10 years now. The same unit I lived in is now going for almost a grand a month. Even those cheap apartments over off of Village Parkway, which were at one point going for $550, are now close to a grand. Even complexes like Belmont Crossing where you could get a one bedroom on a move in special for $499 are now 800+. And for the record, the complex where I lived is STILL ranked as one of the top 5 nicest complexes on Zillow.
Rental prices have been surging up until recently with all the new complexes opening. The prices should be stabilizing and dropping now though.
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Old 03-08-2016, 07:27 AM
 
37,882 posts, read 41,956,856 times
Reputation: 27279
Quote:
Originally Posted by residinghere2007 View Post
I haven't looked at these schedules in years, probably since the 1990s, does the schedule above mean that Detroit has a high COL compared to Atlanta???

If so, that is truly crazy! Detroit and its suburbs are super cheap compared to Atlanta. I would think Atlanta and Chicago are equal in COL due to Atlanta's very high utility rates versus Chicago's very high taxes.

If this is what the schedules are saying - that Detroit has a higher COL than Atlanta, then I would suggest switching the Atlanta level with Detroit's lol. But maybe I'm reading it wrong. As stated, its been years since I looked at the schedules.
It's called a cost of living adjustment, but that's somewhat misleading; the adjustment is meant to make federal salaries comparable to non-federal salaries in metropolitan areas. As it was mentioned earlier, the unionized jobs typically mean higher pay in the Midwest so Detroit's COLA--which is reflective of an abundance of unionized manufacturing jobs in particular--is a reflection of that.
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Old 03-08-2016, 07:49 AM
 
16,212 posts, read 10,823,172 times
Reputation: 8442
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
It's called a cost of living adjustment, but that's somewhat misleading; the adjustment is meant to make federal salaries comparable to non-federal salaries in metropolitan areas. As it was mentioned earlier, the unionized jobs typically mean higher pay in the Midwest so Detroit's COLA--which is reflective of an abundance of unionized manufacturing jobs in particular--is a reflection of that.

Okay, that makes a lot of sense.

Honestly, that is the reason I now make more than I did in Atlanta. We have a heavily unionized state and so even those of us who are non-union make more money as a result.
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