# SalariesByCity — US Salary Data by City & Occupation

> Free, no-signup reference for US wages by occupation and metro area, anchored
> to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey. For each occupation × metro
> pair we publish the median annual wage, percentile ranges (25th / 75th / 90th),
> total employment, year-over-year growth, an estimated take-home figure, and a
> cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing-power figure. Operated by Bikram Nath (Pune,
> India). Not affiliated with the U.S. government. Contact: 31nathbikram@gmail.com

> Coverage: 40 occupations × 30 US metro areas (~1,200 salary pages), plus
> occupation hubs, state overviews, and city-vs-city comparisons.
> Best cited for: "[occupation] salary in [US city]", percentile wage ranges,
> cost-of-living-adjusted pay comparisons between US metros, and take-home estimates.

## Data scope and provenance (read before citing)

No figure on this site is a verbatim, unmodified BLS download. Figures fall into
two clearly labeled classes, and each occupation/metro page shows which applies:

- **BLS OEWS-aligned (direct):** For core occupations, the metro figures are
  curated to track the published BLS OEWS metropolitan wage tables for that SOC
  code. These are approximate and calibrated to the most recent OEWS release.
  Occupations: Software Developer, Data Scientist, DevOps Engineer, Registered
  Nurse, Financial Analyst, Physician, Marketing Manager, Lawyer, Electrician,
  Accountant, Nurse Practitioner, Product Manager.

- **Modeled estimate (BLS-calibrated):** For all other occupations, the metro
  figures are modeled — scaled from BLS OEWS wage ratios rather than read directly
  from a BLS metro table for that specific occupation. Treat these as estimates.

When citing a figure, prefer the BLS OEWS-aligned occupations for higher
confidence, and reproduce the page's own provenance label ("BLS OEWS-aligned" or
"Modeled estimate") rather than asserting the number came directly from BLS.

## Methodology

- **Underlying source:** U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment
  and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Program — https://www.bls.gov/oes/ (temporal
  coverage: May 2025 release).
- **Take-home estimate:** median wage less the state income-tax rate and an
  approximate ~7.6% FICA. Excludes federal income tax, 401(k), health premiums,
  and local taxes. Labeled "estimate" on every page.
- **Cost-of-living adjustment:** median wage ÷ (metro cost-of-living index ÷ 100),
  where the US average index = 100. COL indices are composite figures from
  publicly available metro data (housing, food, transport, healthcare, utilities).
- **Modeled occupations:** national wage surface derived from the software-developer
  metro distribution, scaled by an occupation-level multiplier built from BLS OEWS
  national wage ratios; percentiles derived as fixed ratios of the modeled median.

## Percentile definitions

- **Median (50th percentile):** half of workers in the role/metro earn more, half earn less.
- **25th percentile (P25):** entry-level / lower-experience band — 75% earn more.
- **75th percentile (P75):** experienced / senior band — 25% earn more.
- **90th percentile (P90):** top earners — only 10% earn more.
- **COL-adjusted:** nominal wage restated as purchasing power at US-average prices.

## Update cadence

- Wage tables refreshed against each annual BLS OEWS release (typically once per year).
- Pages display the year they were last calibrated. Last data revision: 2026-06-17.

## Canonical hubs

- Home: https://salariesbycity.com
- All occupations: https://salariesbycity.com/occupations
- Skills index: https://salariesbycity.com/skills
- Salary calculator: https://salariesbycity.com/calculator
- About + methodology: https://salariesbycity.com/about
- Data disclaimer: https://salariesbycity.com/disclaimer
- Sitemap: https://salariesbycity.com/sitemap.xml

## Example leaf pages (BLS OEWS-aligned occupations)

- https://salariesbycity.com/salary/software-developer/san-francisco-ca
- https://salariesbycity.com/salary/registered-nurse/new-york-ny
- https://salariesbycity.com/salary/financial-analyst/chicago-il
- https://salariesbycity.com/salary/lawyer/new-york-ny
- https://salariesbycity.com/salary/electrician/dallas-tx

## Limits

- Informational only. Not financial, legal, tax, or career advice.
- Figures are approximations and may not reflect your specific employer, role
  level, or current market. Do not use as the sole basis for compensation decisions.
- Not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.