Every number on AmericaByNumbers.com comes from official U.S. government sources. We believe in full transparency about where our data originates and how it is used.
The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program is a semiannual survey of approximately 1.1 million establishments conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations in every state and metropolitan area.
This is the primary source for all salary data on AmericaByNumbers.com. We use the following data from OEWS:
We use the 2018 SOC system to classify and identify occupations. Each occupation is assigned a unique SOC code (e.g., 15-1252 for Software Developers). This standardized classification allows for consistent comparison of occupations across states and time periods.
State-level data is identified using Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes. We use the BLS area definitions file to map state codes to state names and ensure accurate geographic attribution of all salary data.
The American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates is the most comprehensive demographic survey in the United States, covering over 28,000 cities, towns, and census-designated places. We use the ACS to power our City & Town Profiles with the following data:
The O*NET database (version 28.3), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, provides detailed descriptions of occupations including required skills, education requirements, and typical work activities. We use O*NET data to enrich salary pages with "About This Job" sections covering job descriptions, top skills, knowledge areas, and education requirements.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) publishes Regional Price Parities that measure the differences in price levels across states and metropolitan areas. We use RPP data to calculate cost-of-living adjusted salaries, showing what a salary is truly worth in purchasing power for each state.
We are actively working to expand the data available on AmericaByNumbers.com:
The CPI measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services. We plan to use regional CPI data for more granular cost-of-living comparisons at the metro area level.
The College Scorecard provides comprehensive data on U.S. colleges and universities, including tuition, graduation rates, earnings after graduation, and student debt. We plan to integrate this data for college profile pages.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) publishes Fair Market Rents for metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. We plan to use this data for detailed rental cost comparisons.
We take data accuracy seriously. All salary figures on AmericaByNumbers.com are taken directly from BLS publications without modification (except for derived calculations like hourly-to-annual conversions, which use the standard 2,080-hour work year).
If you believe you have found an error in our data, please contact us with the specific page URL and the discrepancy you noticed. We will investigate promptly and issue corrections where warranted.