Benefits Administration Letter 24-304

1 

United States Office of Personnel Management

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Benefits Administration Letter

Number: 24-304 Date: January 2024 

Subject: Fiscal Year 2024 Federal Employees Benefits Cost Factors 

for Calculating Imputed Costs

This letter provides the fiscal year (FY) 2024 cost factors for the Federal civilian benefit 

programs. Agencies will use these factors to calculate their imputed costs relating to 

the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the Federal Employees Retirement System 

(FERS), the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) and the Federal 

Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI). The imputed costs are used to 

determine the actuarial liabilities which are included in Governmental financial 

statements1

. 

Cost Factors

Pension. The economic assumptions used to calculate the FY 2024 cost factors under 

Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standard (SFFAS) 33: Pensions, Other 

Retirement Benefits, and Other Postemployment Benefits: Reporting the Gains and 

Losses from Changes in Assumptions and Selecting Discount Rates and Valuation Dates

are based on a 10-year historical average. These economic assumptions differ from 

those established by OPM under guidance from the CSRS Board of Actuaries for the 

determination of certain statutory funding payments for CSRS and FERS. 

1 BAL 03-309 provides accounting instructions and illustrations to calculate imputed costs related to the 

abovementioned Federal civilian benefit programs. 
Benefits Administration Letter 24-304 

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The FY 2024 cost factors for all categories of CSRS coverage are enclosed. While 

agency payments under CSRS are not affected by the CSRS normal cost percentages for 

most agencies, the CSRS normal cost percentages determined under SFFAS 33 are used 

to determine the actuarial liabilities, which are included in Governmental financial 

statements. 

The FY 2024 cost factors reported in this BAL differ from the normal cost percentages 

used to determine the employer contributions agencies pay for FERS employees. The 

cost factors for all categories of FERS coverage are enclosed. Since the cost factors 

reported under SFFAS 33 are determined on a different basis than the actual FERS 

normal cost contributions, agencies should expect to continue to report future imputed 

retirement costs for their FERS employees. 

FEHB Program. OPM is providing the FEHB cost factors for the United States Postal 

Service as well as the cost factors for the remainder of the Government in this letter. 

For FY 2024, the Non-Postal cost factor is $9,445 and the Postal cost factor is $6,966 per 

enrolled employee. Please note that the cost factors shown below are based on the 

actuarial assumptions required by SFFAS 33, as calculated by the FEHB actuary. 

Table 1. Non-Postal Cost Factor

Quarter Factor

1st $2,319

2nd $2,347

3rd $2,375

4th $2,404

FY 2024 $9,445
Benefits Administration Letter 24-304

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Table 2. Postal Cost Factor

Quarter Factor

1st $1,710

2nd $1,731

3rd $1,752

4th $1,773

FY 2024 $6,966

FEGLI Program. The FY 2024 cost factor for the FEGLI is 0.02 percent of basic pay, the 

same as in previous years. 

Statement for Auditors

The FY 2024 cost factors provided in this letter are being issued before an opinion by 

OPM’s independent public accounting firm can be received for FY 2024. Nonetheless, 

the FY 2024 cost factors for “regular” CSRS and FERS coverage, as well as those for the 

FEHB and FEGLI Programs are consistent with the disclosures in the footnotes 

accompanying OPM’s consolidated FY 2023 financial statements. These statements 

received an unqualified audit opinion. The policies, procedures and controls 

pertaining to the calculations of the FY 2024 cost factors did not change from FY 2023. 

Consequently, auditors of FY 2024 financial statements can rely upon the disclosures in 

Office of Personnel Management’s FY 2023 financial statements and the related audit 

opinion. 

Additional Information

If you have questions about this letter, please send an email to

FinancialBALs@opm.gov. We look forward to assisting you.
Benefits Administration Letter 24-304

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Enclosed

Table 3. Cost Factors for CSRS

CSRS Factors Cost Percentage

Regular Non-Postal 56.5%

Regular Postal Service 47.2%

Law Enforcement 95.3%

Air Traffic Controller 79.3%

Members of Congress 59.8%

Congressional Staff 73.5%

Table 4. Cost Factors for CSRS-Offset

CSRS-Offset Factor Cost Percentage

Offset Non-Postal 40.7%

Offset Postal Service 32.1%

Offset Law Enforcement 79.7%

Offset Air Traffic Controller 65.3%

Offset Members of Congress 54.6%

Offset Congressional Staff 57.9% 

Table 5. Cost Factors for FERS

FERS Cost Factor Cost Percentage

Regular Non-Postal 24.7%

Regular Postal Service 21.6%

Law Enforcement 52.7%

Air Traffic Controller 54.5% 

Members of Congress 33.0%

Congressional Staff 34.6%

Military Reserve Tech 28.4%
Benefits Administration Letter 24-304 

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Table 6. Costs Factors for FERS-RAE

FERS-RAE Cost Factor Cost Percentage

Regular Non-Postal – RAE 25.2%

Regular Postal Service – RAE 22.1%

Law Enforcement – RAE 53.5%

Air Traffic Controller – RAE 55.3% 

Military Reserve Tech – RAE 28.8% 

Table 7. Costs Factors for FERS-FRAE

FERS-FRAE Cost Factor Cost Percentage

Regular Non-Postal – FRAE 25.5%

Regular Postal Service – FRAE 22.5%

Law Enforcement – FRAE 53.9%

Air Traffic Controller – FRAE 55.7%

Military Reserve Tech – FRAE 29.1%