Code of Federal Regulations Title 5. Administrative Personnel § 5.532.211 Criteria for establishing appropriated fund wage areas

(1) Survey area:  A survey area is composed of the counties, parishes, cities, or townships in which survey data are collected. Except in very unusual circumstances, a wage area that includes a Metropolitan Statistical Area shall have the Metropolitan Statistical Area as the survey area or part of the survey area.

(2) Nonsurvey area:  Nonsurvey counties, parishes, cities, or townships may be combined with the survey area(s) to form the wage area through consideration of the criteria in paragraph (d)(1) of this section.

(1) There is a minimum of 100 wage employees of one agency subject to the regular schedule and the agency involved indicates that its local installation has the capacity to do the survey;  and

(2) There is, within a reasonable commuting distance of the concentration of Federal employment;

(d)(1) Adjacent economic communities or political units meeting the separate wage area criteria in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section may be combined through consideration of:

(2) Generally, the criteria listed in paragraph (d)(1) of this section are considered in the order listed.

(3) When two wage areas are combined, the survey area of either or both may be used, depending on the concentrations of Federal and private employment and locations of establishments, the proximity of the survey areas to each other, and the extent of economic similarities or differences as indicated by relative levels of wage rates in each of the potential survey areas.