By the OnPAR Federal Retirement Education editorial team · Last updated

Atlanta is the largest federal hub in the Southeast, built around CDC, the VA and the IRS. We help Atlanta-area feds plan their FERS retirement over phone or video, with no local office.

Federal employers in the area

OPM's August 2026 workforce data shows 28,704 federal civilians on duty in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta metro[19]. That count leaves out employees whose metro OPM does not publish, mainly security agencies such as most of DoD[20], so the real number is higher. The largest groups are the Veterans Health Administration (6,668), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (6,450), the IRS (4,029) and the FAA (2,079)[19].

Who to call about your benefits

While you're working, your agency HR office handles retirement estimates and paperwork. After you retire, OPM Retirement Services is at 1-888-767-6738[3]. For Social Security questions, find your nearest SSA office with SSA's official locator[21]; we don't list addresses here because offices move.

Georgia tax on your FERS annuity

Georgia taxes federal pensions but lets you exclude retirement income: up to $35,000 a year at ages 62 to 64 and up to $65,000 at 65 or older, with each spouse qualifying separately[27]. Pensions and annuities count as retirement income for the exclusion[26].

Cost of living

BEA puts the 2024 price level for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro at 100.1, where 100 is the U.S. average[1].

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Sources

  1. BEA: Regional Price Parities by State and Metro Area (2024 data, released Feb 19, 2026)
  2. OPM: Retirement Services contact
  3. OPM Federal Workforce Data: Federal Employment raw data, August 2026 (EHRI Status, published Oct 4, 2026)
  4. OPM Data Release Policy (security-agency duty stations outside DC are not published by metro)
  5. SSA: Social Security Office Locator
  6. Georgia Department of Revenue: Retirement Income Exclusion
  7. Georgia Department of Revenue: 2025 IT-511 instructions

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