USA TODAY's print copy for April 5 2004, "Cover Story" center above the fold:
Low pay squeezes FBI agents -- and perhaps U.S. security
Debt raises risks of corruption, espionage
By Kevin Johnson and Toni Locy
FRANKLIN PARK, N.J. -- He is a law school graduate and a former Marine captain who seems to be living his career dream: to be an FBI agent, protecting the United States from terrorists and other criminals.
But when the 34-year-old Long Island native leaves his New York City office, he returns to a life he says he never bargained for: a spartan rented room here, 42 miles south of the city. [snip!]
"I took an oath when I joined the FBI," says the agent, who has been with the FBI for four years and who asked not to be identified. "I never thought it would also include a vow of poverty."
[url: Low pay squeezes FBI agents.]
The article goes on to tell stories about officers who left better paying jobs to serve their countries in the FBI only to be transfered to some of the most expensive cities in the country - New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, etc.
While this article is particular to the FBI, the story holds true across the federal government, including within the Department of Homeland Security.
While "salary-comparison formulas used by real estate agents indicate that someon making $80,000 in Miami would need ot make about $127,000 in San Diego to have roughly the same lifestyle", the federal government uses its own formulas. (FYI, $80,000 base-pay is virtually an irrelevant number for federal officers; that's near the top of the management pyramid.)
The Office of Personel Management (OPM) uses the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate the "locality pay" that adjusts for the cost of living differences across the nation. The CPI does not include the cost of housing or energy. In short, if housing costs 1000% as much in New York, NY, as in El Paso, TX, but a tomato costs 15% more, the locality pay will reflect a 15% increase in costs.
As a result you'll find border guards in Douglas, AZ, buying five bedroom homes in cash but the same guards renting one bedroom apartments in San Francisco and collecting food stamps.