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Modeled Wage Estimates - Field Definitions

Area

Indicates the geographic area for the estimate. Estimates are available at the national, state, metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area levels.

Ownership

Indicates the sector represented by the estimate. All workers covered by the survey are referred to as civilian workers. Civilian workers are defined using the National Compensation Survey (NCS) definition: the combination of private industry and state and local government workers. Civilian workers exclude federal government, contractors, agriculture sector, self-employed, volunteers, unpaid workers, private household workers, and those working overseas, see Handbook of Methods.

Estimate

Indicates the type and unit of measure for the estimate (i.e., mean hourly wages in dollars and cents).

Industry

Indicates the industry sector for the estimate. While establishments are classified in industry sectors based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for sampling purposes, estimates are not published by industry, see www.census.gov/naics/.

Occupation

Indicates the occupational group, or family of jobs, for the estimate. Workers are classified into occupational groups based on the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, see www.bls.gov/soc.

Job characteristic

Indicates the attributes of workers within an occupational group for the estimate. Job characteristics include work status (all workers, full-time, and part-time), bargaining status (union and nonunion), and time and incentive status (time- and incentive-based pay). Job characteristic is also referred to as subcell within the download text files available at download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/wm/.

Level

Indicates the work level for the estimate. Work levels provide insight into the range of duties and responsibilities for an occupation and are determined by assessing four factors: knowledge, job controls and complexity, contacts (nature and purpose) and the physical environment. There are up to 15 work levels, including grouped worked levels of entry, intermediate, and experienced. Grouped work level estimates were created from meaningful group level distinctions within an occupation, consisting of either two groups for entry and experienced levels or three groups for entry, intermediate and experienced levels. Work levels vary by occupational groups and some jobs cannot be leveled. For more information on work levels, see NCS: Guide for Evaluating Your Firm's Jobs and Pay (PDF) or Modeled Wage Estimates for entry, intermediate and experienced grouped work levels.

 

Last Modified Date: August 24, 2023