President Joe Biden’s executive order giving civilian federal workers their largest pay raise since the Carter administration is set to take effect soon.

Biden issued his “Executive order on the adjustments of certain rates of pay” on Dec. 21, 2023, which affects “the rates of basic pay or salaries of the statutory pay systems.” Under the order, more than two million government workers will see an average 5.2% raise.

It’s important to note the 5.2% figure is an average, according to reporting by Federal News Network. The actual numbers federal employees will see in their paychecks depend on where they work, thanks to locality pay.

The United States Office of Personnel Management published the full set of 2024 pay tables for the General Schedule on its website.

As proposed in Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget plan revealed in March, the increase amounts to a 4.7% across-the-board boost to basic pay, alongside an average 0.5% increase in locality pay, according to reporting by the Government Executive. He is also preparing to give military service personnel an average 5.2% pay raise.

The federal pay raise is set to take effect in the first full pay period of January 2024.

It is the largest pay raise at one time for the workers since the Carter administration adopted a 9.1% average raise in 1980, as well as a 0.6% increase over last year’s raise, which itself marked a 20-year high, the Government Executive reported.

Meanwhile, most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and face a lack of job security.

A recent LendingClub survey found that 61% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. That includes 78% of consumers who earn under $50,000 a year and 65% of those who make between $50,000 and $100,000, according to reporting by CNBC.

To read more about the historic federal pay raise, click here.

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