BLS OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

How It Works

The OEWS survey is the gold standard for occupation-level wage data in the United States. Conducted semi-annually, it surveys approximately 1.1 million establishments (representing about 59% of all U.S. employment) and produces wage estimates for 867 detailed occupations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. OEWS data is available at the national, state, and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level. The survey collects employment counts and wages (mean, median, and percentile — p10, p25, p50, p75, p90) for each occupation. OEWS data is published annually in May, covering data collected over the prior three years (a rolling average that produces more reliable estimates). Important limitations: OEWS captures wages only (not total compensation including benefits, stock, or bonuses), covers only wage and salary workers (not self-employed), and uses occupational classifications that may lag behind emerging roles. Despite these limitations, OEWS is the most comprehensive and statistically rigorous public salary dataset available. SalaryTruth uses OEWS as its primary data source for all salary comparisons.

Related Terms

• Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code — A federal system that categorizes every U.S. job into one of 867 detailed occupations — used by BLS, DOL, and Census Bureau to track wages, employment, and labor market trends.
• Median Salary — The middle point of all salaries for a given role — half of workers earn more, half earn less. More useful than average salary because it isn't skewed by extremely high or low earners.
• Salary Percentile — Your position in the salary distribution — the 75th percentile (p75) means you earn more than 75% of workers in the same role. BLS reports p10, p25, p50, p75, and p90.