Salary Percentile

How It Works

Salary percentiles provide a much richer picture than a single median number. BLS reports five percentile points for each occupation and geography: p10 (10th percentile — entry-level or part-time workers), p25 (25th percentile — junior or below-market workers), p50 (50th percentile — the median, representing typical mid-career pay), p75 (75th percentile — experienced workers or premium employers), and p90 (90th percentile — senior experts, high-cost-of-living areas, or top-paying companies). The gap between percentiles reveals how steep the pay curve is. For software developers, the p90/p10 ratio exceeds 3:1 — meaning the top 10% earn more than triple the bottom 10%. For registered nurses, the ratio is closer to 2:1, indicating a more compressed pay scale. When negotiating salary, knowing your target percentile is powerful: asking for "above the 75th percentile" is more compelling than asking for an arbitrary number. SalaryTruth shows all five BLS percentile points for every role-city combination to help you understand exactly where a given offer falls in the distribution.

Related Terms

• 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.
• Mean Salary (Average Salary) — The arithmetic average of all salaries for a role — calculated by adding all salaries and dividing by the number of workers. Typically higher than the median because high earners pull the average up.
• Wage Distribution — The full range and spread of salaries for a given occupation — from the lowest earners (p10) to the highest (p90) — revealing how pay varies by experience, location, and employer.