This guide helps you interpret the values presented and understand how to apply them in your workforce planning or compensation strategies.
What this chart shows
The chart visualizes compensation percentiles for a selected occupation, presented as a bar segmented by:
| Percentile | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | Entry-level or less experienced salaries — lower bound of typical pay |
| 25th percentile | Below-median earners — often early career or lower cost geographies |
| 50th percentile | The median — midpoint of earnings for this occupation |
| 75th percentile | Above-median earners — experienced or in-demand candidates |
| 90th percentile | Highly experienced or specialized — top-tier wage earners |
This spread helps you understand the range of earnings and how compensation varies within an occupation.
Why percentile-based compensation matters
Percentile compensation provides a more granular view than simple averages. It lets you:
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Benchmark roles accurately for different levels of experience
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Set fair and competitive salaries across locations or seniority
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Spot outliers or wage compression in specific roles
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Build career progression bands that align with market reality
What the standard deviation means
The tooltip includes standard deviation, which represents how spread out the compensation values are. A high standard deviation suggests large variability (e.g. broader pay gaps), while a lower value indicates tighter consistency.
This matters when:
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You want to understand how volatile compensation is within an occupation
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You're setting compensation policies and want to ensure consistency
What confidence level means
We also display a confidence level—e.g. “High” or “Medium”—based on the volume and consistency of job postings and compensation data for the selected occupation. Higher confidence means more reliable percentile insights.
Use this to:
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Decide whether to trust this data directly
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Or use it directionally while supplementing with your own benchmarks