Salary Guides
WageDex salary guides explain how to read BLS OEWS wages: across 825 occupations with a published national median (of 830+ tracked), half of those medians sit below $61,390 a year.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2025 estimates, each guide ties figures to the May 2025 OEWS release, states the geography and reference period, and flags where BLS suppresses estimates. Use them to interpret percentiles, state rankings, growth projections, and cost-of-living adjustments without treating a single headline as a personal offer.
Each guide identifies its source and reference period. Published occupation coverage varies by geography and measure.
Understanding BLS Wage Data
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics salary numbers mean, how they are collected, and why they differ from self-reported salary sites.
Using Salary Data for Negotiation
A close read of BLS wage percentiles and metro estimates, with clear limits on what they say about an offer.
Highest-Paying Careers in America
The occupations with the highest published BLS medians, plus comparable state and metro tables.
Best States for Salaries
How state wage rankings are constructed, what they measure, and why they do not identify one best state for every worker.
Salary vs. Cost of Living
WageDex combines OEWS wages with BEA price indexes. This guide explains where their geographies and vintages do not match.
Fastest Growing Occupations: Where the Jobs Are
BLS ten-year growth rates are projections, not promises. This guide shows the highest published values and their limits.
Entry-Level vs. Experienced Pay
How BLS wage percentiles differ from experience categories, with a bounded comparison of the published distribution.
Methodology
Wage guides primarily use the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates. That release combines six survey panels totaling about 1.1 million establishments and publishes mean and percentile wages where available for national, state and territory, metropolitan, and nonmetropolitan geographies.
Employment projections come from the BLS Employment Projections program, 2024–2034 cycle, which publishes ten-year growth rates, annual openings, and typical education/experience/training requirements per SOC code. Workplace safety data comes from the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). Occupation skills, knowledge, and tasks come from O*NET Online. Cost-of-living adjustments use BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024.
We present raw BLS percentiles without rescaling, do not fill unavailable published values, and flag occupation-geography gaps. BLS may withhold estimates for quality or confidentiality reasons. Full source details are on the methodology page.