Methodology

Every wage figure on this site comes from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: the numbers BLS published, converted to a database and formatted for reading rather than modelled or inferred. One number is derived rather than reported — the cost-of-living adjustment described below, which combines those wages with price levels from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

What the survey measures

• Wages of wage-and-salary workers. Self-employed workers are not covered.
• Straight-time gross pay, including incentive pay, but excluding most benefits and overtime premiums.
• Occupation as defined by the Standard Occupational Classification, not job title.
• Employment by place of work, not place of residence.

How figures are marked

• A median shown with a plus sign is at or above the highest wage the survey publishes; the real figure may be higher.
• Where BLS did not release an estimate, we show no page rather than a blank or a guess.
• Estimates whose relative standard error reaches 15% are not published here at all.

Cost of living

Local price levels come from the Bureau of Economic Analysis implicit regional price deflator, divided by the national figure so that 100 is the national average. BEA publishes on a later schedule than the wage survey, so the price year and the wage year may differ by one; both are stated on the page. The adjustment divides the median wage by the local price level — it answers what the same pay buys in different places, and nothing more.

Comparing across years

BLS states that OEWS estimates are not designed for comparison over time. Occupational classifications are revised, metropolitan boundaries are redrawn, and survey methods change. Where this site shows more than one year, it is showing what each release said at the time, not a measured rate of wage growth.

Licence and attribution

Works of the U.S. federal government are in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. §105. Data used here comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and, where price levels are discussed, the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Salary Explorer is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or any government agency.

Corrections

If a figure here disagrees with the BLS source, the BLS source is right and this site is wrong. Reports of such discrepancies are welcome and acted on.