Am I underpaid?
Pick your job and enter your salary. We compare it against the real pay range for that occupation, from the lowest to the highest earners, using official BLS wage data for 762 careers.
| Lowest paid (10th percentile) | |
| 25th percentile | |
| Median (50th percentile) | |
| 75th percentile | |
| Highest paid (90th percentile) |
Choose your job above to see where your pay lands.
How to read your result
Every job has a pay range, not a single number. The BLS reports it in percentiles. The 10th percentile is near the bottom, where the lowest paid 10% of workers earn. The median (50th percentile) is the exact middle: half earn more, half earn less. The 90th percentile is near the top. When you enter your salary, we place it on that range so you can see, at a glance, whether you sit below the middle, right at it, or above.
Sitting below the median for your job is the clearest sign worth acting on, especially if you have years of experience. Remember these are national figures: your city, industry, and employer size all shift the range. Use the number as a starting point, then research pay where you actually work.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if I am underpaid?
Compare your pay against the wage range for your specific job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes what workers earn at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th, and 90th percentiles. If your salary sits below the median for your occupation, you earn less than half of the people doing your job nationally, which is a signal to look closer.
What does salary percentile mean?
A percentile tells you the share of workers who earn less than a given amount. If your pay is at the 25th percentile, about 75% of people in your job earn more than you and 25% earn less. The 50th percentile is the median, the exact middle of the pay range.
Where does this salary data come from?
The pay ranges come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2024, which surveys about 1.1 million U.S. establishments. These are national figures. Your local market, employer, and experience can move the number up or down.
My salary is below the median. Am I definitely underpaid?
Not necessarily. These are national numbers, so cost of living, years of experience, and employer size all matter. But being well below the median for your job, especially with solid experience, is a strong reason to research local pay and prepare for a raise conversation.