This page explains exactly how every figure on WorthByZip is produced, so you can judge the numbers for yourself.
Salary figures
Median, mean, and percentile (10th-90th) wages come directly from the BLS OEWS metro-area estimates. We publish a page for a given occupation and metro only when BLS reports a wage for it; where BLS suppresses a figure for data-quality reasons, we do not show a page.
Cost-of-living index
Each metro gets a cost index where the US metro average is 100. When available we use the official BEA Regional Price Parities; otherwise we derive a relative index from Census median rent, the single largest driver of cost differences between metros. The source in use is labeled on every page.
"Worth after cost of living"
We scale a local salary by 100 divided by that metro's cost index, estimating the equivalent purchasing power in an average-cost metro. It is an estimate, not a guarantee.
Limitations
- Figures are metro/city-level, not ZIP-code-level.
- Government estimates are updated annually and can lag current market pay.
- Individual pay varies with experience, employer, and industry.
Updates
We refresh the data when BLS and Census release new estimates. Current release: BLS OEWS 2025 - Census ACS 2020-2024.