Am I Underpaid? Free 2026 Salary Calculator

Median wages by state, with regional cost-of-living context. California, Massachusetts, and DC top the charts; Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas anchor the bottom.

Methodology

How we know what we know.

All baseline figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — the most comprehensive wage dataset in America, covering ~830 occupations from 1.1 million establishments. We then apply category-specific wage-growth projections to translate the May 2024 release into Q1 2026 estimates.

Growth assumptions reflect Employment Cost Index trends, sector-specific shortages (healthcare and trades both running 4–5% YoY), and slowdowns in over-saturated markets (tech, creative). For state-level adjustments we use BEA Regional Price Parities and the C2ER Cost of Living Index.

For occupations with strong geographic concentration (investment banking in NYC, agricultural workers in CA, tech in WA), we apply per-job state overrides on top of the base multiplier.

Full methodology →

Common questions

Frequently asked

Is the salary data accurate for 2026?

Our baseline is BLS OEWS May 2024 — the most recent comprehensive federal wage dataset. We then project forward to Q1 2026 using sector-specific YoY wage growth derived from the BLS Employment Cost Index and labor market trends. Tech salaries are growing slower (~2.5% YoY) than healthcare or skilled trades (~5%) due to post-2023 contraction and ongoing shortages elsewhere. These are estimates, not precision figures — but they're the most current synthesis available outside paid commercial data sources.

What counts as "underpaid"?

We flag you as underpaid when you earn more than 8% below the fair market median for your job, state, experience, and education combination. The 8% threshold filters out routine variance and identifies genuine pay gaps that justify negotiation, role-changing, or job-hopping. Within ±8% of median is "fair." More than 8% above median is "above market."

Does total compensation include stock, bonuses, and benefits?

No. BLS OEWS measures cash wages and salary only — straight time, plus production bonuses, commissions, and tips. It does not include equity grants, deferred compensation, or benefits like healthcare or retirement match. For roles where total comp meaningfully exceeds base (tech ICs, sales, finance, executives), your true total compensation may be 30–100% higher than what's shown here. We note this explicitly on relevant job pages.

Why is the median different from sites like Glassdoor or Levels.fyi?

Self-reported sites (Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, LinkedIn Salary) suffer from selection bias — the people who report tend to be either well-paid (bragging) or underpaid (frustrated), skewing distributions. They also concentrate around tech/finance/major metros. BLS data is mandatory employer reporting covering ~80% of US employment, including every industry and rural region. Our numbers will often be lower than Levels.fyi (which is FAANG-skewed) and more conservative than Glassdoor for top-paying employers — but more accurate as a population baseline.

Do you sell my data?

We don't collect it. There's no signup, no email gate, no analytics that tracks individual users. The calculator runs entirely in your browser — your salary input never leaves your device. We may show contextual affiliate offers (resume tools, job boards) on result pages, but those are non-personalized.

My job isn't listed. What now?

We cover 100 of the highest-volume occupations in the US labor market. If your role isn't here, look up the closest BLS Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code at bls.gov/oes — it'll give you raw wage data even when we don't have a dedicated page. We add new occupations quarterly based on what users search for.

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