Data Methodology

Data Source

All salary data on Wages USA comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, the most comprehensive and authoritative source of occupational wage data in the United States.

The OEWS program conducts a semiannual mail survey of nonfarm establishments to collect occupational employment and wage data. The survey is a Federal-State cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies (SWAs).

Update Cycle

BLS releases updated OEWS data annually in the spring, typically in March or April. Each annual release represents data collected over a three-year period, with the reference period being May of the year prior to publication.

• Release Frequency: Annual (spring release)
• Data Collection Period: Three-year rolling window
• Reference Point: May employment and wage data
• Our Update Schedule: We update our database within 30 days of each BLS release

For example, the May 2024 OEWS data (released in April 2025) reflects employment and wage estimates as of May 2024, based on surveys collected from May 2023 through May 2024.

Calculation Methodology

We present BLS data without modification or estimation. The statistics you see on our pages are direct representations of official BLS figures:

Wage Percentiles

BLS reports wage data at specific percentile points, calculated from actual survey responses:

• 10th Percentile: Entry-level or lowest-paid positions (10% earn less, 90% earn more)
• 25th Percentile: Lower quartile
• Median (50th Percentile): The middle salary point (half earn less, half earn more)
• 75th Percentile: Upper quartile
• 90th Percentile: Highest-paid positions (90% earn less, 10% earn more)

Mean Wages

The arithmetic average of wages, calculated by summing all wages and dividing by the number of employees. Mean wages can be influenced by very high or very low salaries, which is why we emphasize median values as a more representative measure.

Employment Estimates

Employment counts represent the number of wage and salary workers in an occupation. These are rounded to the nearest 10 for confidentiality protection.

Geographic Coverage

Our database includes salary data for multiple geographic levels, directly from BLS OEWS:

National Coverage

All 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Metropolitan Areas

We cover over 400 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Our initial focus includes the top 100 largest metros, with ongoing expansion to include all areas with sufficient data.

State-Level Data

State-wide salary estimates for all 50 states and territories, aggregating data across all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas within each state.

Nonmetropolitan Areas

For some occupations, we include nonmetropolitan ("rural") area data when available from BLS.

Data Quality & Limitations

While BLS OEWS data is the gold standard for occupational wage information, users should be aware of certain limitations:

Survey Sampling

OEWS data is based on a survey sample, not a complete census. While the sample is large (1.2 million establishments), individual estimates carry some sampling error.

Data Suppression

BLS suppresses certain estimates to protect employer confidentiality or when data quality does not meet publication standards. This typically occurs when:

• Employment in an occupation-area combination is very low
• A single employer dominates the occupation in a geographic area
• Wage variation is extremely high, making estimates unreliable

When BLS suppresses data, we do not display pages for those occupation-location combinations or clearly mark them as unavailable.

Excluded Workers

OEWS data excludes:

• Self-employed workers
• Owners and partners in unincorporated firms
• Household workers
• Unpaid family workers

Compensation Components

OEWS wages include:

• Base rate
• Cost-of-living allowances
• Guaranteed pay
• Hazardous-duty pay
• Incentive pay (including commissions and production bonuses)
• Tips

OEWS wages do NOT include:

• Benefits (health insurance, retirement contributions)
• Premium pay for overtime, weekends, or holidays
• Nonproduction bonuses

Timing Lag

Due to the data collection and processing timeline, published data is typically 10-12 months old at the time of release. For example, May 2024 data is published in April 2025.

Data Integrity & Verification

We implement multiple quality assurance measures to ensure accurate data presentation:

• Direct Source Import: Data is programmatically imported from official BLS files
• Automated Validation: We run integrity checks to detect anomalies or import errors
• Comparison Checks: New releases are compared against historical data to flag unusual changes
• Manual Review: High-traffic pages undergo periodic manual verification against source data
• Update Logging: All data updates are logged with timestamps and version tracking

If you discover a data discrepancy or have questions about a specific figure, please contact us with the page URL and details of the concern.

Continuous Improvement

We are committed to improving our methodology and expanding our coverage:

• Adding new metropolitan areas as data becomes available
• Incorporating additional BLS datasets (OOH, JOLTS) for richer context
• Implementing historical trend analysis for multi-year comparisons
• Enhancing industry-specific salary breakdowns

Changes to our methodology are documented on our Data Sources page and announced via update logs.

Additional Resources

• BLS OEWS FAQs
• OEWS Technical Notes
• OEWS Methods Statement
• Our Data Sources Page
• About Wages USA