Salary Comparison Tool: Is Your Job Offer Competitive?

Reviewed Sep 28, 2026 BLS OEWS May 2025 wage estimates; state rules verified against official sources How we verify

Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. General information; laws vary by state. Terms of use

A salary comparison shows where a pay offer sits among the wages employers report for the same job in the same place. The U.S. median annual wage for all occupations was $50,980 in May 2025, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) estimates released May 15, 2026. For home health and personal care aides, the largest occupation in the table below, the national median was $35,800 a year. The tool covers 830 occupations of the BLS data in all 50 states and DC, with their metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.

Compare the offer

Pick the job, the state and the pay, and the tool places the offer between the published percentiles, from the 10th to the 90th, with the local range, the national median and your state's minimum wage and pay range rules when we have verified them. Free; the job title and the pay you type are not sent anywhere.

What you type stays in this browser. We never receive or store it.

What to do next

Salary comparison by job: national BLS percentiles for 25 jobs

The 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of each job across the U.S., per year and per hour, from the May 2025 OEWS estimates. We took the largest jobs (up to two per family, by U.S. employment in the BLS data) in 14 of the 22 BLS job families (major occupational groups), 28 jobs, and list the 25 with the most workers. The Desk chose these families as common in small businesses; that choice is ours, not a BLS statistic. For your state and area, and for any other job, use the tool above.

Job	U.S. employment	25th percentile	Median	75th percentile
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	4,305,810	$31,920 a year $15.35 an hour	$35,800 a year $17.21 an hour	$39,470 a year $18.98 an hour
Retail Salespersons	3,897,860	$29,900 a year $14.38 an hour	$35,410 a year $17.03 an hour	$38,670 a year $18.59 an hour
Fast Food and Counter Workers	3,854,050	$27,700 a year $13.32 an hour	$31,200 a year $15.00 an hour	$36,070 a year $17.34 an hour
General and Operations Managers	3,503,020	$72,320 a year $34.77 an hour	$105,770 a year $50.85 an hour	$167,280 a year $80.42 an hour
Registered Nurses	3,379,720	$80,330 a year $38.62 an hour	$97,550 a year $46.90 an hour	$112,350 a year $54.02 an hour
Cashiers	3,089,410	$28,720 a year $13.81 an hour	$32,880 a year $15.81 an hour	$36,330 a year $17.47 an hour
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	2,950,280	$36,090 a year $17.35 an hour	$40,240 a year $19.35 an hour	$46,920 a year $22.56 an hour
Stockers and Order Fillers	2,833,810	$34,450 a year $16.56 an hour	$37,330 a year $17.95 an hour	$44,650 a year $21.47 an hour
Customer Service Representatives	2,595,750	$36,870 a year $17.72 an hour	$44,770 a year $21.53 an hour	$51,780 a year $24.89 an hour
Office Clerks, General	2,464,940	$36,350 a year $17.48 an hour	$45,010 a year $21.64 an hour	$54,300 a year $26.11 an hour
Waiters and Waitresses	2,270,910	$27,750 a year $13.34 an hour	$35,230 a year $16.94 an hour	$47,110 a year $22.65 an hour
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	2,209,760	$32,240 a year $15.50 an hour	$36,840 a year $17.71 an hour	$44,060 a year $21.18 an hour
Software Developers	1,687,890	$105,210 a year $50.58 an hour	$135,980 a year $65.38 an hour	$171,980 a year $82.68 an hour
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General	1,529,700	$40,840 a year $19.64 an hour	$49,590 a year $23.84 an hour	$62,620 a year $30.10 an hour
Accountants and Auditors	1,449,500	$67,020 a year $32.22 an hour	$83,680 a year $40.23 an hour	$109,810 a year $52.80 an hour
Nursing Assistants	1,448,910	$37,260 a year $17.91 an hour	$42,260 a year $20.32 an hour	$47,220 a year $22.70 an hour
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators	1,405,030	$37,380 a year $17.97 an hour	$44,650 a year $21.47 an hour	$51,200 a year $24.61 an hour
Construction Laborers	1,096,780	$38,620 a year $18.57 an hour	$47,120 a year $22.66 an hour	$59,740 a year $28.72 an hour
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	1,087,090	$62,640 a year $30.12 an hour	$83,050 a year $39.93 an hour	$114,010 a year $54.81 an hour
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers	952,640	$36,190 a year $17.40 an hour	$39,150 a year $18.82 an hour	$46,830 a year $22.52 an hour
Financial Managers	841,710	$125,490 a year $60.33 an hour	$166,570 a year $80.08 an hour	$219,980 a year $105.76 an hour
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	812,210	$63,400 a year $30.48 an hour	$79,920 a year $38.42 an hour	$101,460 a year $48.78 an hour
Computer User Support Specialists	717,190	$49,000 a year $23.56 an hour	$61,860 a year $29.74 an hour	$79,040 a year $38.00 an hour
Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics	704,640	$38,900 a year $18.70 an hour	$50,620 a year $24.34 an hour	$70,430 a year $33.86 an hour
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers	673,430	$58,630 a year $28.19 an hour	$74,450 a year $35.79 an hour	$91,680 a year $44.08 an hour

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Employment is rounded by BLS. A job marked “published per year only” has no hourly figure in the BLS data, and the reverse.

How the comparison works

The survey. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 reference period released May 15, 2026. BLS publishes wage estimates by occupation for the U.S., each state and DC, and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. We use them as published and checked them on Sep 28, 2026.
Percentiles. The 25th percentile is the wage that 25% of the workers in the job earn less than; the median (50th) is the middle; the 75th percentile is the wage that 75% earn less than. The tool says which two published percentiles the offer sits between.
Our estimate. The approximate percentile (for example “about the 38th”) is our estimate: a straight line between the two published percentiles around the offer. It is always labelled as an estimate.
Areas. An area is a metropolitan area or a nonmetropolitan part of the state, as BLS defines it; a metropolitan area can cross state lines. Where BLS has no estimate for the job in the area, the tool falls back to the whole state and says so.
Values BLS does not publish. Some jobs are published only per year or only per hour; some estimates are not available; some of the highest percentiles are not published at all (above the BLS reporting limit). The tool says so instead of filling the gap and never compares an offer with a value BLS did not publish.
Minimum wage check. The state minimum wage comes from the verified rules of the Desk, with the law and the date checked. For a yearly offer the tool divides by 2,080 hours (40 hours a week for 52 weeks); that hourly figure is our estimate.
Unemployment rate, as context only. The tool shows the state unemployment rate from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (2026-08, preliminary). The U.S. rate, 4.1%, is from the BLS Current Population Survey (series LNS14000000), because LAUS has no national series. It does not change the comparison.
What it leaves out. Benefits, bonuses, experience, company size and city or county minimum wages are not in the comparison.

See how we verify the data and the rules.

Questions people ask

What is a competitive salary?

There is no legal definition. A practical test is where the pay sits among what employers pay for the same job in the same area. The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program publishes the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles of wages by occupation and area; the median is the middle wage, with half of the workers in the job earning more and half earning less. An offer above the median pays more than half of the workers in that job earn in that area.

Where does the salary data come from?

From the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates, released May 15, 2026. Employers report the wages they pay by occupation; BLS publishes the estimates for the country, each state and DC, and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. We show the numbers as published.

Why does the tool say BLS does not publish a value?

BLS marks some estimates as not available, and it does not publish some of the highest percentiles at all (above its reporting limit). Since the May 2025 estimates BLS publishes specific values for many high percentiles (BLS OEWS questions and answers), so the old footnote amount is not a ceiling on the data. The tool shows no dollar figure for a percentile BLS did not publish and never compares an offer with it. It never fills a gap with a guess.

Should I enter the pay per hour or per year?

Enter it the way you will pay it: an hourly wage per hour, a yearly salary per year (you can also write the unit after the amount, such as /hr or k for thousands); the tool asks you to check the unit when the amount does not fit it. BLS publishes some jobs only per year (for example Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary) and some only per hour (for example Actors); for those the tool asks for the unit BLS uses instead of converting.

Is the median the salary I have to pay?

No. The percentiles describe what employers reported paying, not a legal requirement. The tool also shows the minimum wage rule we have verified for your state, with its source, because that one is a legal floor. Local minimum wages (city or county) are not included.

Do I have to put the pay range in the job posting?

It depends on the state. We have verified a statewide pay transparency rule for 2 states and DC so far; the tool shows your state's rule, with its official source, when we have verified it. Other states also have pay range rules for job postings that the Desk has not verified yet; for those states the tool says the state may require a pay range and links the official source. Every state is in the table of illegal interview questions by state, with a column for pay ranges in job postings.

Sources (7)

Checked Sep 28, 2026 · How we verify every rule · Report an error