SalariesReview.com FAQs

Q: What type of salary data do you provide?
SalariesReview printed survey results are displayed from three sources, three surveys in one: 1) Survey participants' data, summed, averaged and profiled, 2) norms created from reproducible noncopyrighted and leased national databases, and 3) norms derived from management data digitized from SEC and IRS reports. Three different survey results are provided in the printed copy for each job with differences due totally to the composition of the organizations included. SalariesReview surveys are available in 2 editions: condensed Archival (for litigation support and research) and more robust Year Present (for salary planning and competitive assessments).

Q: What type of cost-of-living reports do you provide?
SalariesReview cost-of-living reports provide observations of costs found within walking distance (2 kilometers or 1.25 miles of a city's central area). These reports assume a married professional or mid-management consumer with an equivalent of £28,800 in UK ($48,000 in US) earnings. Prices for the following items are provided: hotel room, daily meals and incidentals, sales or value-added tax on consumables, one 'Big Mac' hamburger, one 350 ml. (12 ounce) Coca-Cola, one t-shirt, a loaf of bread, 2-bedroom flat (80 sq. mt./900 sq. ft.), 180 sq.mt./2,200 sq. ft. house, utility costs including telephone for a house (130 sq.mt./1,560 sq. ft.), office visit to a physician for a physical exam, daily cost of a semi-private hospital room before insurance, monthly premium for family medical (or family fee if National Plan), 1 litre of regular mid-level petrol (1 gallon if US), average annual vehicle insurance, and average annual vehicle registration plus fees. Please note that actual living costs will reflect personal or family spending patterns and expenses. These variables are not factored into SalariesReview cost-of-living reports, but are included in ERI Relocation Assessor^® software reports.

Q: Where do you get your information?
Our primary data sources are each country's National Statistics/Labour Office, along with other transnational published salary surveys and non-copyrighted sources. This data is supplemented with Internet participation by job incumbents who report their salaries/living costs or Human Resource Managers contributing data in exchange for reports. Due to the self-nominated nature of some of our data input, we cannot validate every element of our source data, even if it passes our statistical reliability tests. For the most accurate, up-to-date salary information by position, industry, employer size, and location, we direct HR Professionals to ERI Economic Research Institute survey software.

Q: How current are your salary figures?
We update to the first day of each month. As the SalariesReview Salary Survey Methodology explains in greater detail, the original data sets come from government and transnational surveys, such as those by Statistics Canada, the US Department of Labor's BLS/OES/ETA agencies, and private consulting firms over the past few years. We conduct time-series trend analyses on those annually released surveys, enhanced by current increase rate information submitted by individuals participating in our online survey. We update each job's pay information according to the historical trend, combined with the most recent increase data shown from non-copyrighted surveys, from self-nominated submissions that pass our filter tests for statistical reliability, and from our own salary budgeting surveys and economic analyses.

Any one job will have data from surveys conducted in 1999 through today, with current figures being updated based on the historical survey trend. The percentage updated to the first day of the month is also influenced by real-time current interactive web survey input, a combination of published structure increase rates, and our own special salary budget survey and study of competitive rate changes.

Q: How soon are survey inputs integrated into report results?
Data submitted to SalariesReview salary and cost-of-living surveys are used immediately unless they are determined to be extreme. The salary data is aged monthly, and only data from the last two years is used. For the Salary Increase Survey, the user-submitted data is not used in the current report; instead that data is used to fine-tune the next year's model.

Q: I am having trouble ordering a report.
If placing your order, it may be because your Internet browser does not allow for “cookies.” Make sure that you “enable cookies” by following these steps.

Q: Your salary data is higher than expected for a position/location.
Our data is sometimes skewed up by survey participant input. (Users can receive free salary reports in exchange for inputted data regarding their position.) We strive to be as accurate as possible, but recognize that our salary figures may reflect the high side of competitive ranges due to the fact that individuals often self-report higher than average salary figures in our participant surveys, and employers submitting data may pay above average. If the input is high, then the survey result will be high; the data are the data. For the most accurate salary reports on the full range of normative pay by industry and location, see ERI's Salary Assessor^® software. For these quarterly updated databases, ERI insists that at least three survey sources be used for each position and location. This provides consensus salary survey results that are consistently in-line with current market rates.

Q: What if I can't find the job and location I'm researching?
Different products cover different job titles and locations. (Some products cover only major cities, while others provide geographic precision down to the zip code level.) If your title is not covered by a SalariesReview salary report, see:

Q: I paid for a report, but can't access it.
Your SalariesReview report should appear immediately on your screen after you submit your order. Then it is stored in the Your Account section of our site. (Click on Your Account in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.) Next click on the link to your Digital Locker to access your recently purchased reports. You will need to input your email address and password to access your account. If the site does not recognize you, it may be because your Internet browser does not allow for “cookies.” Make sure that you “enable cookies” by following these steps.

Q: I can't print my report.
If you are having trouble printing a report it is most likely cookie trouble. Make sure that you “enable cookies” by following these steps.

Then open up a new Internet Explorer window to your SalariesReview Digital Locker and log in with your username and password. Once in your Digital Locker, click on the link to the report. Then click on the "Print This Page" link next to the print icon. Contact SalariesReview Customer Service at if that does not solve the problem.

To print PDF reports you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. You can download this freeware from: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Q: Why do you ask questions about salaries and prices?
SalariesReview collects information for research analysis regarding salaries and the cost of living worldwide. This survey information goes into our products to continually enhance SalariesReview data and reports.

Q: Where should I go for compensation advice?
We at SalariesReview only provide pay and cost-of-living information via the Internet; we do not provide compensation advice. Please contact a qualified compensation consultant for compensation or benefits advice. You can find consultants via membership organizations such as WorldatWork or SHRM.

Q: Which reports are for employees and which for HR?
As covered in our marketing comments about the products, HR departments and employers seeking commercial-quality, cross-referenced, and verified competitive market data by location and industry normally subscribe to the authoritative and long-proven ERI compensation survey databases. We at SalariesReview provide online survey reports based on government data and self-volunteered or job incumbent inputted data. Because of this, we are able to cover more jobs in more locations, but our salary and cost-of-living data is not as detailed (not taking size or industry into account). SalariesReview data is also not submitted to the same rigorous validation checks as the figures that are incorporated in ERI's compensation software.

Employers who wish to supplement their ERI subscriptions with our broader but less detailed salary data may also purchase the Salary Expert PRO+ Global Salary Calculator. In addition, employers, individual employees, or board members purchase Salary Expert's Executive Compensation Reports as the first step in a due diligence compliance sequence for Sarbanes-Oxley, intermediate sanctions, or reasonable compensation challenges. Salary Expert's Personal Salary Reports are designed for individual employee use.

Note: Salary Expert databases and reports are primarily designed for individual employees and low-budget employers who do not require a highly industry-specific commercial database of competitive pay information. See ERI Economic Research Institute, the pay information source used by over 80% of the Fortune 500, for the commercial standard in corporate pay-setting database tools.

Q: Where can I find more detailed salary information?
Detailed pay ranges for 5,000+ position titles in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe are available from ERI compensation software. Expert users such as Human Resource and Compensation Departments of major companies, pay consultants, contractors, and attorneys (conducting prevailing wage analyses) would instead typically prefer to rely on the wide-ranging and long-proven databases of ERI Economic Research Institute. ERI has been the authoritative source of current consensus competitive pay survey information to the Fortune 500 for three decades. Their survey analysis software is interactive and reasonably priced, for corporate and expert research use.

For the small price (if any) we charge for our service, we cannot routinely provide the kind of industry-specific data or precise enterprise-size-adjusted accuracy as does ERI (the best research firm that sells commercial pay data subscriptions to governments and major employers). SalariesReview can and does provide breadth in positions and locations covered, but we can't match ERI for precision and are happy to refer you to this compensation research firm.

Q: I need to compare the cost of living in 2 locations. Where can I find cost-of-living comparison reports?
If you want more information than is contained in our single-city cost-of-living reports, consider ERI's Relocation Assessor^® software that compares an individual's living costs in 2 of 10,000 locations worldwide. Input an employee's earnings level, home size (owned or rented), family size, and automobile usage, and receive a detailed cost-of-living comparison report.

Q: What about executive pay that should be set based on industry and organization size?
Our salary reports do not adjust for the size of an organization or industry differentials that are so important to executive compensation comparisons. For a compensation report that does factor in industry, organization size, executive experience, and education, see Salary Expert's Preliminary Executive Compensation Report. This report provides competitive rates, showing industry-specific pay at like-sized peer organizations, with proxies for up to 12 publicly traded comparable organizations.

For HR professionals who need to run multiple executive compensation reports, we recommend ERI’s Executive Compensation Assessor software, which provides reports with:

base salary, incentive, and total compensation information

maximum reasonable compensation estimates utilized by the IRS

a lower statistical standard deviation

more data sources

data that will hold up in court

executive pay histories from comparables of your choosing

subscribers including over 80% of the Fortune 500, the IRS, and State Attorneys General

Q: How many hours of work are your annual gross income rates based on?
All our figures are stated in terms of annual gross amounts based on a standard workweek of 40 hours, and are reported in terms of a full-time work year consisting of 2,080 hours.

Q: Can I get historical pay data?
We provide current salary and cost-of-living estimates. For historical data, see a public source such as:

The US Department of Labor's website, the www.bls.gov, contains a variety of hourly and salaried job surveys.

ERI Economic Research Institute's free executive compensation website, which provides free access to public financial reports, including corporate proxies, 10-Ks, and annual reports. Form 990 tax filings of tax-exempt enterprises are available from ERI's non-profit salaries website. These reports include the executive pay histories of the top paid officers in each organization.

ERI's Salary Assessor salary survey software contains (even in its demo version), a summary of the average annual market pay movement and renters' cost-of-living changes back to 1995. Download a compensation software demo, then select Help / Topic Search / Historical Estimated Increase Rates to view this summary.

Q: What is "buying power"? What is "cost of living"?
Buying power is the inverse of cost of living (COL). Low cost of living in an area means that you have a proportionally higher buying power in that area. Your dollars spent there buy an amount of goods and services that would cost you far more in the average city.

The cost of living and buying power figures are calculated per the methodologies detailed in our Methodology. In short, we use government data showing the indexed cost of specific market baskets of goods and services for certain income levels in various metropolitan centers. This is supplemented with Internet survey participation inputs. If you fit the average expenditure pattern for your income group, our figures will be extremely accurate for you; if you live far above (or below) your means, then our figures will be less appropriate for your use.

Q: Do you use "gross" or "net" figures?
All Salaries Review wages are reported in standardized gross amounts, prior to national/local tax treatments or whatever individual deductions may apply to reach a net figure. For example, an employer may pay all incumbents of the same clerking job a fixed rate (and that's what SalariesReview reports); but each individual clerk-employee receives a different amount of net take-home pay based on his/her tax treatment, number of specified personal deductions for dependents, automatic dues paid, optional benefit payments, or other directed diversions of personal earnings to savings plans, Christmas clubs, etc. Our pay figures are all pre-tax gross amounts.

Q: Why the change in salary levels from a year ago?
Many jobs pay less today than a year or two ago. That is the reality for many jobs in many cities. The big story over the past 3 years has not been salary increases, but salary decreases as senior people have been laid off, retired, left their prior jobs, or been promoted into different higher-paying positions. Also, there has been much market softening in trade-labor rates, with the general economic weakness since 2000 and even greater losses in union negotiating power and job counts in major urban centers. In addition, there is a sea change underway in inter-urban pay relationships, with big cities moving closer together and small towns falling even farther behind in pay as more people move to the big city for slightly better wages. The net effect is that certain low-skill or trade-union jobs are now held by lower-paid people earning less than their predecessors on average, yet grateful to have the work.

Salaries Review US data calculations include US Bureau of Labor Statistics OES datasets, which remains the largest survey in existence, and that source shows reversals in 2005 vs. 2004 salary data. Example: 33% of OES areas reported 2005 carpenter wages lower than 2004 carpenter wages.

In addition, Salaries Review is in the process of updating international data country by country. When we find that newer data shows that a position should earn lower wages than we had previously reported, we update the data as necessary and it is immediately reflected in our salary reports. When we find that a currency has changed, or inflation has impacted wages, our data changes accordingly. That being said, there is a scarcity of good international data, and user inputted data may tend to inflate salary estimates.

For HR professionals who require reliable salary data cross-checked from multiple sources, again we recommend ERI compensation survey software. ERI's salary survey software is relied upon by over 80% of Fortune 500 Companies to set salaries, executive compensation, branch office pay, and relocation allowances. ERI compensation data is gathered from thousands of salary surveys and sources. SalariesReview databases, on the other hand, are designed to provide a great breadth of data (for thousands of positions in 200 countries) at an inexpensive price (just $19 per report). If your organization requires precise data for individual salary planning, we do recommend you use a more detailed salary calculator, such as ERI's salary survey software, which allows you to adjust salary calculations for important factors such as industry, employee experience, organization size, and pay strategy, etc. The Consultant Edition of this salary database covers more than 5,000 jobs in the US, Canada, and Europe.

SalariesReview FAQS