Median Wage — Definition and What It Means for Your Income
The midpoint salary for an occupation — half of workers earn more, half earn less.
Median wage is the middle value of all wages for a given occupation or location — exactly half of workers earn more than this amount, and half earn less. It's published annually by the Bureau of Labor Statistics through the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) program.
Why it matters
Median wage provides a benchmark for evaluating whether a specific salary offer is above, at, or below typical pay for a role or location, without being skewed by extremely high or low outliers.
Example
If the BLS median wage for software engineers is $132,684, a $95,000 offer would be below median, while a $150,000 offer would be above median for this occupation nationally.
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Related terms
Median Wage — FAQ
Where does median wage data come from?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) program surveys employers annually to produce median wage data by occupation and location.