Salary Data for US Employees 2025 – Verified Sources Only!

Understanding how much a job should pay is crucial for employers and job seekers. Whether you’re budgeting for a new role or assessing market competitiveness, accurate and unbiased salary data is a key decision-making tool. However, not all salary sources are created equal. While many websites publish salary tables, some are affiliated with recruiting firms or job boards. This can introduce bias or serve commercial interests.

Today, I will take you through the most credible salary data sources in the U.S. that operate independently of recruiting firms. I aim to give you facts you can trust, thus helping you make the best decisions.

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) – Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the U.S. government’s premier source for comprehensive labor market data, including detailed salary information across hundreds of occupations. As a federal agency, BLS offers rigorously collected, transparent, and regularly updated compensation data rooted in nationwide surveys conducted by trained professionals. Because BLS data are government-verified and publicly accessible, they are among the most credible salary benchmarks available.

BLS collects data from employers in both private and public sectors to produce estimates of mean and median wages, employment levels, and wage percentiles at national, state, and metropolitan area levels. This breadth of coverage makes it indispensable for employees and employers seeking authoritative information on salary standards.

Through programs like the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), BLS ensures reliable, granular data that serve as a cornerstone for economic research, compensation strategy, and workforce planning.

Here is a sample table with salary data from this source.

2. U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – Federal Pay Tables

The OPM administers the General Schedule (GS) pay system, which applies to approximately 1.5 million federal civilian employees in professional, technical, administrative, and clerical positions. The GS pay structure consists of 15 grades (GS-1 to GS-15), each with 10 steps. GS-1 is the lowest level (typically entry-level roles), and GS-15 is the highest (typically senior management, technical experts, or policy-making positions). The structure is adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost of living and labor market conditions.

In 2025, the GS pay tables incorporate a 1.7% base pay increase, along with locality pay adjustments that vary by geographic area to account for regional differences in living costs. For example, the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA locality area has a 37.95% locality pay adjustment, resulting in a total pay increase of 2.23% for that region.

These pay tables are publicly accessible and serve as a reliable benchmark for federal compensation across various occupations and regions.

Salary Table 2025-GS – Annual Rates by Grade and Step

3. National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) – Salary Survey Reports

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) conducts rigorous, annually updated salary surveys specifically focusing on recent graduates entering the workforce. NACE’s salary survey reports are highly respected for their detailed analysis of starting salaries across majors, industries, and regions.

As an independent professional association, NACE provides verified salary data grounded in employer surveys from a broad range of industries and institutions, without influence from recruiting firms. Its reports are widely used by career services offices, universities, and employers to set competitive entry-level pay scales.

NACE’s surveys help new graduates and early career professionals benchmark their expected salaries. This is while giving employers data to attract top emerging talent through fair compensation.

Table: Average Salaries By Discipline / Bachelor’s Degrees

4. Payscale – Crowdsourced Real-Time Salary Tool

PayScale stands out as one of the most widely used and independently verified sources of salary data in the United States. Unlike recruiting firms that may use compensation data to support placement strategies, PayScale provides objective, research-driven insights into real-world earnings across thousands of job titles, industries, and locations.

The platform collects millions of data points directly from employees through structured surveys and enhances this information using employer-reported data and proprietary machine learning models. This blended methodology ensures that PayScale’s salary data is not only current, but also grounded in actual labor market activity, making it a trusted source for HR professionals, analysts, and job seekers alike.

For U.S. employees and businesses, PayScale serves as a reliable benchmark for compensation planning. Individuals can generate customized salary reports based on variables such as experience, education, and location. Employers, on the other hand, use PayScale’s tools like Payfactors and MarketPay to develop fair and competitive pay structures, enforce internal pay equity, and respond to evolving labor market trends.

Why Skip Recruiting Firms’ Salary Guides?

Recruiting firms often publish flashy and accessible salary guides, but it’s important to know the context. These guides are often promotional tools designed to attract clients or talent and may reflect inflated figures from high-demand roles or limited internal datasets.

That doesn’t mean they’re wrong. They often lack transparency and broad statistical rigor. For reliable, impartial benchmarking, the verified sources listed above offer more dependable insights.

How to Use Salary Data Wisely

Even when salary tables come from verified and authoritative sources, interpreting them without context can lead to misinformed decisions. Here are a few best practices for making the most of the data:

• Adjust for Cost of Living

A salary figure means different things depending on where you live. For example, a $90,000 annual salary in San Francisco may offer less purchasing power than $70,000 in St. Louis due to regional price differences. Use official tools like the ones referenced above to account for cost-of-living variations when comparing salaries across cities or states.

• Understand Percentile Ranges

Salary tables often list the median (50th percentile), but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Reviewing the 25th and 75th percentiles can help you understand compensation ranges for entry-level roles versus experienced professionals or specialized positions. For example, the 25th percentile may reflect compensation for new graduates, while the 75th percentile reflects salaries for professionals with advanced skills or certifications.

• Check Publication Dates

Always verify when the data was last updated. Sources like the ones above update their salary surveys annually or seasonally. Using outdated data can lead to inaccurate benchmarks. So be sure to reference the most recent reports available on each official site.

• Use Multiple Data Sources

No single platform offers a complete picture. For instance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides detailed, standardized national data ideal for macro-level insights, while real-time platforms like PayScale use user-submitted data to show more dynamic, location- and role-specific trends. Cross-referencing these sources helps validate findings and spot any anomalies.

Final Thoughts

I always believe that well-informed hiring decisions begin with accurate information. Therefore, feel free to refer to the tables above with the most reputable salary data sources in the U.S. for the best decisions. While the tables offer objective compensation benchmarks, the next step in any hiring process is finding the right talent.

That’s where Online Recruiters Directory comes in. We specialize in connecting employers and hiring professionals with recruiting firms and headhunters across the U.S., saving you time and helping you build the best teams. Whether you’re hiring for a niche role or scaling your workforce, we’re here to make the match. So, contact us today and let’s start building your hiring success story.