Alaska Federal Non-Foreign COLA Mortgage
An Alaska federal non-foreign COLA mortgage file is a home loan for a civilian federal employee whose paystub still shows a nonforeign cost-of-living allowance after locality pay. The large percentage on an Alaska General Schedule stub is locality pay. The smaller percentage is the residual COLA. They are different lines. Adding them together from memory, or swapping in a state payroll differential, is how the income worksheet drifts off the stub.
This is not the state geographic-differential article. That differential is a State of Alaska pay practice for state employees. It is not the military housing-allowance guide. Basic Allowance for Housing is a military line. A civilian employee at a Fairbanks duty station, or at a federal office in Anchorage or Juneau, documents the COLA from the federal stub and from the Office of Personnel Management table, not from a BAH letter and not from a state pay plan.
Alaska Home HQ is educational. It is not a lender and it is not OPM. Rates vary. Subject to credit approval.
What an Alaska federal non-foreign COLA mortgage stub is showing
OPM’s nonforeign areas page says the government pays cost-of-living allowances to white-collar civilian federal employees in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It points to section 5941 of title 5 and to Executive Order 10000, as amended, as the authority for those allowances. The same page explains that the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act, in Public Law 111-84 of October 28, 2009, transitions the nonforeign COLA authorized under 5 U.S.C. 5941(a)(1) to locality pay authorized under 5 U.S.C. 5304.
That transition is why the stub looks the way it does. Locality pay became the main geographic adjustment. A residual COLA remains on the OPM table for Alaska. The 2026 columns on that page are:
| Alaska row on the 2026 OPM table | Nonforeign COLA | Locality pay |
|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 1.49% | 32.36% |
| Fairbanks | 1.49% | 32.36% |
| Juneau | 1.49% | 32.36% |
| Other Alaska | 3.00% | 32.36% |
The footnote on locality pay matters for a small group of employees and does not, in the text OPM published, change the COLA column. The EX-IV cap is $197,200 in 2026. Because of that cap, GS-15 employees in Alaska at steps 7 through 10 do not receive the full locality percentage of 32.36 percent in 2026. OPM lists the actual locality percentages as 30.03 percent at step 7, 26.51 percent at step 8, 23.18 percent at step 9, and 20.02 percent at step 10. A GS-15 at those steps should be read from the stub and from that footnote, not from the uncapped 32.36 percent figure.
The same OPM page shows 2025 Alaska COLA rates at the same 1.49 percent and 3.00 percent, with a different cap amount and slightly different step-7-through-10 locality percentages. The 2024 rows on that page are different COLA percentages. Match the year of the stub to the year of the table. An old printout is how a worksheet picks up a percentage the current duty station is not being paid.
Match the duty station before you touch the worksheet
The table names three Alaska places and then “Other Alaska.” It does not, on the face of the 2026 chart, draw a borough line around Anchorage or define whether a Mat-Su address is the Anchorage row. The borrower matches the duty station on the personnel document to the row OPM intends. Guessing that a town near Anchorage inherits the Anchorage COLA, or that every federal job in the state is the 1.49 percent row, is a guess. The statewide locality figure on the 2026 table is 32.36 percent except where the pay cap cuts it. The COLA figure still depends on which COLA area the duty station is in.
Read the stub in the order payroll built it. Some stubs show base pay, a locality adjustment, and a separate COLA line. Some fold locality into a displayed rate and leave COLA visible on its own. The dollars on the stub are the income evidence. The OPM percentages explain the line. They are not a second salary to add on top of a stub that already paid them. If the stub and the table disagree, ask the personnel office which COLA area applies before anyone types a rate into the loan file.
The federal-employee mortgage guide covers the rest of a civilian federal file, including how employment is documented. The income verification guide is the general stack for pay evidence. Use those pages for the W-2 and the history. Use this page for the residual COLA line so it is not mistaken for locality pay, for a state geographic differential, or for BAH.
What this page will not do to the COLA line
OPM’s table publishes rates. It does not, in the material reviewed here, decide whether the residual COLA is taxable, and it does not tell a mortgage underwriter to gross the line up. A gross-up of nontaxable income is a program rule of its own. Applying one to this COLA line without the guide that allows it invents income the stub does not show. Leave the tax question to the pay document and to the loan program. Count the earnings the stub actually pays, in the way that program’s income chapter describes stable pay.
A Permanent Fund Dividend can arrive in the same year as a federal salary. It is not part of the COLA. Source it on its own if it is in the bank. Do not add it to the locality percentage.
Premier Mortgage (NMLS# 1168048) can look at a federal stub with the rest of a conventional, FHA, or VA file when that product is the one being requested. Subject to credit approval. Nothing on the OPM table is an approval, and a duty station in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, or elsewhere in Alaska does not by itself set a rate or a payment.
A clean way to send the stub
Send a recent stub that shows base, locality, and the residual COLA as separate facts, even if locality is combined in the displayed rate. Note the duty station in a sentence: Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, or the “Other Alaska” category once personnel has confirmed it. If the employee is a GS-15 at step 7 or above, include the cap footnote so the locality dollars are not “corrected” upward to 32.36 percent. If there is overtime or a special rate, keep that on its own line. A special rate is not the nonforeign COLA.
Then ask the lender how that program treats the COLA line. The answer belongs to the guide in use. This article’s job is to keep the residual COLA identifiable after locality pay, at the percentages OPM published for 2026, and to keep it distinct from the state differential and from military BAH.
Ready to explore your options? Get a free home loan quote from Premier Mortgage (NMLS# 1168048).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the nonforeign COLA the same as Alaska locality pay?
No. On the 2026 OPM table, locality pay for the Alaska rows is 32.36 percent, except where the $197,200 EX-IV cap reduces locality pay for GS-15 steps 7 through 10. The nonforeign COLA on that table is 1.49 percent for Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, and 3.00 percent for Other Alaska. Read the stub so those lines stay separate.
Does a state geographic differential use this same table?
No. The state geographic differential is a State of Alaska payroll item, while the nonforeign COLA is a federal allowance OPM publishes for civilian employees. A state employee and a federal employee can live on the same street in Fairbanks and still have different lines on their pay. Use the stub that matches the employer.
Can I gross up the COLA the way some nontaxable income is grossed up?
This page does not say to. OPM’s rate table does not decide tax treatment, and it does not instruct a lender to add a percentage on top of the COLA dollars. If a loan program has a gross-up rule, it will say so in that program’s guide. Until it does, the income is the amount the stub pays.
What if my duty station is outside Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau?
OPM labels that situation “Other Alaska” on the 2026 COLA table, at 3.00 percent COLA and 32.36 percent locality pay, subject to the GS-15 cap footnote. Confirm with personnel that the duty station is in that row before using 3.00 percent. A town near one of the named cities is not automatically the named city’s COLA.
Do military borrowers use this COLA article?
Civilian federal pay is the subject here. Military housing allowance is documented on its own, in the BAH guide. A service member who also has a civilian federal job would show two different earnings records. The residual COLA, if it appears, belongs to the civilian stub.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Get a free home loan quote today through our trusted partner.
Or call 9078411600
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, mortgage, legal, or tax advice. Interest rates, loan programs, eligibility requirements, and fees are subject to change without notice and may vary based on your individual circumstances. Alaska Home HQ is not a lender, broker, or financial institution. All loan applications are processed by Premier Mortgage (NMLS: 1168048). We may have a business relationship with Premier Mortgage and may receive compensation when you use their services through our links. Consult a licensed mortgage professional before making financial decisions. Terms of Service · Privacy Policy