Learn

40 explainers on how wage figures are produced and what pay rules say. Each one is written from at least two primary federal sources, listed at its end, and carries the date it was last reviewed. They explain; they do not advise.

The data they explain lives in occupations, states and minimum wage.

Reading wage data

How BLS measures wages and how to read a percentile table without being misled.

  • How OEWS wages are measuredWhere the occupation wage figures on this site come from: the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, who it asks, what it counts and omits.
  • Mean versus median wageWhy BLS publishes both a mean and a median wage for every occupation, why they differ, and which one to read first when comparing pay.
  • Reading a wage percentile tableWhat the 10th, 25th, median, 75th and 90th percentile wages mean, how BLS estimates them, and how to use the spread between them to read an occupation's pay.
  • Employment per 1,000 jobs and location quotientWhat the two concentration measures on every state and metro page mean, how BLS computes them, and how to read a location quotient of 0.5 or 2.0.
  • Why the same job pays differently by metroWhy one occupation's median wage varies across metropolitan areas, what OEWS can show about that variation, and what it cannot, including cost of living.
  • How BLS defines an occupation: the SOCThe Standard Occupational Classification behind every occupation page: its four levels, how a job is assigned a code, and why some occupations are combined.
  • Top-coded wages: what "at or above" meansWhy some 75th and 90th percentile wages read as at or above a ceiling rather than a number, what BLS's top code is, and how this site handles those cells.
  • Suppressed cells: why some wages are blankThe reasons BLS withholds an employment or wage estimate, what the markers in the source files mean, and why this site leaves a withheld cell empty.
  • How often OEWS is updatedThe OEWS release cycle: a May reference month, a spring release, three years of pooled data, and why BLS says the series is not built for year-over-year use.
  • Annual versus hourly wages and 2,080 hoursHow BLS converts between hourly and annual wages, why 2,080 hours is the multiplier, and which occupations are published in only one of the two forms.
  • What the mean wage hidesThe ways an average wage misleads: skew from the top, part-time and self-employed workers left out, straight-time pay only, and mixed jobs inside one code.
  • How to compare wages in two states fairlyA checklist for comparing one state's wage figures with another's: same occupation, percentile and reference month, and what this site does not adjust.
  • What the Occupational Outlook Handbook isThe BLS handbook every occupation page links to: what a profile contains, where its wage and outlook figures come from, and how it maps to SOC codes.
  • How to find your occupation's SOC codeFour ways to find the Standard Occupational Classification code for a job whose title is not in the tables, and how to check that the code is right.
  • Why salary websites disagree with OEWSWhy a salary site's figure rarely matches the BLS median for the same job: who reports the data, what counts as pay, how jobs are grouped, which period.
  • How OEWS defines metro and nonmetro areasWhere the area names on the metro and state pages come from: OMB's metropolitan statistical areas, the BLS nonmetropolitan areas, and why definitions change.

Pay rules, summarized

What federal law says about minimum wage, overtime, tips and exemptions. Described, never advised.

  • Federal versus state minimum wageHow the federal minimum wage under the FLSA and state minimum wage laws fit together, which rate applies when they differ, and why five states have no law.
  • Tipped wages and tip creditsHow the federal tip credit works, what a $2.13 cash wage means, who counts as a tipped employee, and how states vary from no credit to the federal minimum.
  • Overtime basics under the FLSAThe federal overtime rule: time and one-half after 40 hours in a workweek, what the regular rate includes, what federal law does not require, state additions.
  • Exempt versus non-exempt employeesWhat exempt from the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime rules means, the salary and duties tests for the white-collar exemptions, and common misreadings.
  • Prevailing wage basicsThe three federal prevailing wage systems: Davis-Bacon for construction, the Service Contract Act for services, and the H-1B and PERM wage levels built on OEWS.
  • How to read a pay stubThe lines on a United States pay statement: gross pay, federal and state withholding, Social Security and Medicare, deductions, net pay and year-to-date.
  • Youth, student and training subminimum wagesThe federal rules that allow less than $7.25 an hour: the $4.25 youth wage for the first 90 days, and the full-time student and student-learner certificates.
  • Who the FLSA coversEnterprise and individual coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act: the $500,000 test, the named institutions, interstate commerce, and who is left out.
  • Local minimum wages and state preemptionWhy a city or county can have its own minimum wage, why most do not, how federal law treats a municipal ordinance, and what this site's local pages show.
  • How minimum wages are indexed to inflationWhat it means when a state adjusts its minimum wage by formula each year, which consumer price indexes it can be tied to, and what DOL's table does not say.

Pay systems

How federal civilian and military pay tables are built.

  • How federal General Schedule pay worksThe structure of GS pay: 15 grades and 10 steps, the statutory base table, locality pay by area, within-grade increases, the annual adjustment and the cap.
  • How military pay is structuredThe parts of a service member's pay: basic pay by grade and years of service, the annual raise tied to the ECI, housing and subsistence allowances, drill pay.
  • How GS locality pay is setThe locality pay process under FEPCA: the President's Pay Agent, BLS surveys, the Federal Salary Council, how areas are drawn, the cap and the alternative plan.
  • How the federal pay raise is set each yearThe January adjustment to GS base pay under 5 U.S.C. 5303: the ECI formula and its half-point offset, the alternative plan, Congress's role, and the cap.
  • How the military pay raise is setThe January 1 increase in basic pay under 37 U.S.C. 1009: the ECI link, the base quarter and the lag, the alternative plan, and how it differs from GS.
  • How LEO pay differs from GS payThe special base rates for federal law enforcement officers at GS-3 through GS-10: where they come from, how locality pay and the cap apply, and who gets them.
  • SES, SL/ST and Executive Schedule pay capsHow pay above GS-15 is bounded: the SES and senior-level ranges from 120 percent of GS-15 step 1 to level III or II, the aggregate limit, and locality rules.

The series that measure wage growth and earnings gaps, and what each one does and does not say.

Most recent review: . Corrections: see the about page.