Free U.S. Salary and Income Data Resources Uses and Comparisons

摘要

This article covers a representative sample of the major sources of big-picture U.S. income and salary-related data. Note that it's aggregate data. It won't reveal the actual salary of your next-door neighbor or co-worker. It also won't answer the question, "How, on their income, can they afford that boat/car/vacation?" Locating relevant income and salary data is complex as data resources are numerous and extremely varied in geographic scope, definitions of terms, and research methodology. Geographic coverage concepts such as Census Tract, Block Group, and ZCTA (ZIP Code Tabulation Area), MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area), and Congressional District, and why they are useful, should be understood in addition to nation, state, county, and city/town. For example, a Census Block Group covers a small population while an MSA can overlap more than one state. Terminology is crucial for proper interpretation of the numbers. Salary, income, wages, earnings, and compensation are often used interchangeably and synonymously but can be quite different from each other. For instance, earnings are typically a component of income. Furthermore, the same term can be defined differently by different sources. A good example is income, which is computed somewhat differently by the Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the IRS.