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National Compensation Survey - Field Definitions

State

A state consists of one of the 50 States in the United States and includes the District of Columbia.

Area

An area is a geographical region for which NCS data are collected. NCS presents selected earnings data for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, nine census divisions, and for the United States as a whole.

Occupation

An occupation is a job, or family of jobs, common to many industries and areas. A worker is classified into one of 800 different different occupations, based on the Standard Occupational Classifications. For example, carpenter, administrative assistant, and accountant.

Level

Work levels are based on the Federal General Service scale, where higher GS levels relate to higher skill levels for any given occupation.

Last Modified Date: March 13, 2009