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Salary Finder Help

Salary Finder Help

Learn more about the Salary Finder.

What does this tool do?

The Salary Finder shows salary information for 800 occupations in locations across the United States. You can:

  • View salary information by region, state, or the nation
  • Create charts to compare salaries in your location to a state or national average

How do I get started?

Get started by entering an occupation and location.

  • Enter an occupation by typing a job name or keyword in the search box, or by clicking “List of occupations” to browse occupation titles. You can also enter an O*NET code in the search box.
  • Enter a location by typing a city (you must include the state) or state or ZIP code into the search box. If you enter a city or ZIP code, your results will reflect the large regional area that your city or ZIP code is part of.

Once you click “Search” you’ll see a table showing the low, median, and high salaries—both hourly and yearly—for the location you entered, as well as the state and national comparison.

You have options to view this information:

  • Click “View National Data” to see a table of hourly and annual salary information for each state.
  • Click “View chart” to see a chart comparing the salary information for your regional area or state with the national information.

What is the difference between High, Median, and Low salary information?

  • "High" reflects the salary that 90% of workers earn less than, and 10% earn more than.
  • "Median" reflects the salary that 50% of workers earn less than, and 50% earn more than.
  • "Low" reflects the salary that 10% of workers earn less, and 90% earn more than.

Does the salary information include part-time workers?

Yearly wage data applies only to workers with full-time, year-round schedules. The hourly wage data includes information for part-time and part-year workers.

Why don’t I see information for the city or ZIP code I entered?

This salary data is not available at the city or ZIP code level. So you’ll see salary data for the area closest to your selection. This data will be labeled in your results with one of two area types:

Metro area, which could be one of two types defined by the Office of Management and Budget as a standard for federal agencies to prepare and publish statistics. You might be seeing data for a:

  • Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which is used to describe a large population nucleus (usually a city or combination of cities), together with adjacent communities which have a high degree of economic and social integration with that nucleus
  • Metro New England City and Town Area (MNECTA), which is similar to an MSA, with a core area comprised of a group of New England cities and towns containing a substantial population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of social and economic integration with that core.

Balance of State (BOS) area, which is sometimes called a nonmetropolitan area. These areas represent the parts of a state not included in a metro area (see above). These areas are defined by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.

Why does it say "No data available"?

Salary data are unavailable for some regions, usually due to a small sample size.

What is the source of the salary information?

This salary information is collected by each state through the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at the U.S. Department of Labor. Wage data are updated on CareerOneStop annually. Data were last updated in May 2022, and reflect May 2021 estimates.

For information about displaying any of this data on your own website, please visit CareerOneStop's Web API.

What is included and excluded in CareerOneStop’s salary and wage data?

Wage estimates include base rate, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay (e.g. commissions and production bonuses), and on-call pay. Wage estimates do not include back pay, jury duty pay, overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, and tuition reimbursements.

Yearly wage data applies only to workers with full-time, year-round schedules. The hourly wage data includes information for part-time and part-year workers.

Who can I contact for help?

Please contact the CareerOneStop Service Center at info@careeronestop.org.