Find Out Exactly What You Should Earn
Real salary data from 1.1 million employer payroll records — not self-reports. Free, no account, no paywall.
The gap most people don't know exists
Median vs. What the Top 25% Earn
Most workers benchmark against the median. Top performers negotiate to P75. The difference is life-changing money left on the table.
Most searched
Top Salary Reports
New York · BLS verified · updated daily
By industry
Browse by Industry
288 jobs across 20 industries
Location matters
Software Engineer Salary by City
City changes earning power by up to 68% — BLS metro premium data
Why this is different
Government Payrolls vs Self-Reports
Glassdoor and Payscale publish what people say they earn. BLS OEWS is mandatory employer payroll data — audited by federal statisticians.
| Feature | SalaryScope | Glassdoor | Payscale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data source | BLS OEWS — 1.1M employer payrolls | User self-reports | Self-reports + surveys |
| Verifiable | Yes — BLS series IDs are public | No — proprietary | Partial |
| Bias | None — mandatory audit | High (voluntary) | Medium |
| International | 65+ countries via OECD + ILO | Limited outside US | Limited |
| Updates | Every 24 hours (automated) | User submissions | Quarterly surveys |
| Account required | Never | Required | Required |
| Cost | Completely free | Freemium | Freemium |
Glassdoor and Payscale are trademarks of their owners. Comparison based on publicly documented methodology.
How it works
No estimates. No crowdsourced guesses.
BLS surveys 1.1M employers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics sends mandatory payroll surveys to over a million US businesses every 6 months. Employers report actual wages — not estimates.
BLS OEWS program →5-factor model globalises it
Each job's BLS occupation premium is applied to the destination country's real average wage (OECD/ILO). Skill elasticity, metro premium, and income tier compression produce city-level estimates.
See the formulas →You negotiate from fact
P75 is your negotiation anchor — what the top quarter already earns in your market. HR knows this data. Now you do too. Cite it in salary conversations and watch the dynamic shift.
FAQ
Common Questions
Where does the salary data come from?
US figures come from BLS OEWS — a mandatory survey of 1.1 million US employers. International figures use OECD Average Wages (38 countries, PPP-adjusted), ILO ILOSTAT for non-OECD countries, and World Bank GNI per capita for the remainder. No self-reported data at any stage.
How is SalaryScope different from Glassdoor or Payscale?
Glassdoor and Payscale rely on voluntary employee self-reports. BLS OEWS comes from mandatory employer payroll records reviewed by federal statisticians. It is the most accurate public salary dataset available.
Why does the same job pay differently in different cities?
For US cities: BLS national median × BLS metro-area wage premium (San Francisco = 1.68×). For international: country average wage × Occupation Premium Ratio × Skill Elasticity × Income Tier Compression × city metro premium.
How often is the data updated?
US salaries refresh every 24 hours via the BLS API. International wages (OECD + ILO) refresh every 30 days. Currency rates (ECB) refresh every 4 hours. Everything runs on an automated scheduler.
Is SalaryScope really free?
Yes — completely. All underlying data is from public-domain government sources. The site is funded by advertising. No email, no account, no paywall, ever.
What does the P75 salary mean?
P75 (75th percentile) means 75% of workers in that job/city earn less. It is your negotiation anchor — a salary already paid to the top quarter of real professionals in your market.
More detail in the full methodology or on the about page.
You came here for a reason
Know What You're Worth
288+ job titles. 173+ cities. Government payroll data. Free forever.