Finding information about average job salaries

Often when you are evaluating your career opportunities, planning your education, or looking for a raise, you may feel the need to compare your situation to others and you look first at finding out about average job salaries. Keep in mind that the information you find is most likely to be affected by a number of factors.

Average job salaries are affected by location

In those areas of the country where the cost of living is high, you may find statistics which show higher than average salaries, but sometimes mean that the disposable income (money you have left after paying for your housing, food and transportation) may leave you with less than what you have now.

Also, when you look at average job salaries, many jobs do not have fixed criteria for qualifications. You may have more or less education or experience than the people whose salary information made up the statistics.

What to watch for when examining reports about average job salaries

When examining any kind of listing of average job salaries, make sure you know what kind of salaries were studied to make up the numbers. Were they for junior or entry level positions? Do the figures include only the people in those positions, or do they also include managers or administrators of those jobs? Are the numbers broken down by state, or region of the country, and if so, are the numbers applicable to your area?

U.S. Department of Labor

The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides an Occupational Outlook Handbook site for its recently-published Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2006-07 Edition. Revised every two years, The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a nationally recognized source of career information, providing assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. 

You can search their site for information about job categories, when you have found one that most closely matches yours, look for the section on Earnings. Start your search here for information about average job salaries.

Information about average job salaries through online services

Newspapers are probably not a good source of information about salaries. However, many websites provide salary information along with job listings and they all offer a keyword search box to make your search more efficient. Again, be sure you understand the qualifications, work level and geographic location of the jobs being offered as you compare the information.