Compensation & Wages

Overview

Wage data represents the amount of compensation workers earn for a specific occupation. It helps users analyze pay levels, compare labor markets, and understand compensation trends across roles, industries, and locations.

Lightcast provides wage data to support workforce planning, compensation benchmarking, and market analysis. Depending on your objective, you can use different wage types to reflect either current workforce earnings or employer hiring offers.

Wages Data Types

Lightcast provides two primary types of wage data. Each type is designed for a different analytical use case and is derived from a distinct data source.

Incumbent wage
Advertised Wage (or Recruiting Wage)

Incumbent wage reflects what people currently employed in a specific occupation typically earn. Use this wage type to understand the existing pay structure across the workforce.

Data Source: Primarily derived from government-reported payroll and employment data.

APIs

Compensation API

The Compensation API provides more granular wage insights than occupation-level data alone. It enhances standard SOC-level wage data by incorporating skills and experience, using a model built from Core LMI data and job posting wage observations.

This allows users to analyze how compensation varies based on specific skill requirements and experience levels.

For detailed explanation, check out Compensation Model.

Obtain Salaries at Different Currencies

For each data run, exchange rates are reviewed and updated using reference data from Open Exchange Rates. These rates are applied to ensure salary values reflect current currency conversions.

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Some highly specific compensation details, such as company-level salary data, are not available in incumbent wage data. But it is recommended to look at Advertised wage.