Official Salary Data for Your Job: Where to Look

Which official sources publish salaries by occupation?

Four sources cover the largest English-speaking and European markets. Each uses its own occupation codes and measures pay a little differently: some cover all employees, some only full-time ones, one publishes means rather than medians. Read the method note before comparing countries, because the same job can look cheaper or dearer just from the definition.

Official salary sources by country and what they measure
Country or region	Source	Occupation codes	What it measures
United States	Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)	SOC 2018	Gross wages of employees in all industries, by state and metro area; excludes the self-employed
United Kingdom	Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)	SOC 2020	Gross annual pay of full-time employee jobs
Canada	Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (Table 14-10-0417-01)	NOC 2021	Usual gross wages of full-time employees, including tips, commissions and bonuses
European Union	Eurostat, Structure of Earnings Survey	ISCO-08	Mean gross annual earnings by major occupation group; no median by occupation

How do you match your job title to an official occupation?

Search the code list by what you do, not by your title. A "Customer Success Manager" is not a statistical occupation; the closest US codes might be sales managers or customer service supervisors, depending on the work. Read the official description of each candidate code and pick the one whose duties match most of your week.

If two codes fit, look at both and note the range between them. A precise-looking number from the wrong occupation is worse than a broad range from the right two.

How should you read a median salary for your occupation?

The median is the middle earner: half earn more, half less, across every experience level in the occupation. A senior specialist should expect to sit above it, a new graduate below it. The middle half of earners (25th to 75th percentile) is often more useful than the median alone, when the source publishes it.

Reading one row of OEWS data

What the source shows

Occupation: Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists (SOC 13-1161). Area: your metropolitan area. Columns: annual median wage, 25th percentile, 75th percentile.

How to use it

With three years of experience, aim between the 25th percentile and the median, or at the median if the posting matches your profile closely. With eight years and a specialism the posting asks for, the 75th percentile is a defensible anchor.

Look up the current release for your own occupation and area; the BLS tables are free and need no account.

What does official salary data not tell you?

It does not know the company, the exact role, your experience or the bonus and equity structure. A start-up and a bank can pay the same occupation very differently. Official data is also published with a delay of a year or more. Use it as an outside reference, next to the salary range in the posting where one is given.

Some US states and cities require salary ranges in job postings, and H-1B filings show the wages employers offered for specific job titles. Both are useful second sources; the H-1B sponsor data shows offered wages by employer and role.

How do you use salary data in a negotiation?

Name your source and your number together: "For this occupation in Denver, the BLS median is X and the 75th percentile is Y; given my experience with Z, I am looking for Y." A sourced figure is hard to dismiss. Give a range with your target near its lower end, and leave room to discuss the whole package.

The salary negotiation tips cover timing and how to answer "what are your expectations?" early in the process.

Where does Ruubu show salary data, and where does it come from?

Ruubu's salary data page lists the four official sources, how each one measures pay, and how Ruubu matches a role to the closest official occupation. Resume example pages show the official figures for their occupation, copied exactly as each office publishes them, with the source and period named. Ruubu never shows its own estimate.

When there is no confident match between a role and an official occupation, no figure is shown rather than a neighbouring one. The page is free: see official salary data by occupation.

See official salary data Pricing

Frequently asked questions

Are salary sites more accurate than official statistics?

They are often more specific (company, title) but based on self-reported, unverified entries. Official statistics are broader but come from large, documented surveys. Use both, and know which is which.

Why is the official median lower than the salaries I see in postings?

The median covers everyone in the occupation, including people early in their careers and in lower-cost regions. Postings for senior roles in big cities sit above it.

Does the BLS publish salaries by city?

Yes, OEWS publishes estimates for states and metropolitan areas, where the sample is large enough.

Is there official salary data for Germany or France?

Eurostat publishes mean earnings by major occupation group for EU countries. National offices such as Destatis and INSEE publish more detail in their own languages.

Should I tell an employer my current salary?

In some US states and cities employers may not ask. Where they can, you can still answer with your expected range instead.

Where can I find official salary data for my job before negotiating?