How the COLI Adjusted Occupational Wage Comparison Tool Tells Your Real Earning Power

The COLI Adjusted Occupational Wage Comparison Tool enables you to compare wages for the same job across the U.S. from the national level all the way down to the county level, all while accounting for cost of living differences in regions. By taking the cost of living into consideration, you can make a more informed decision around whether you should accept a job offer in another area, or if you’re better off staying put, no matter the nominal wage.

For instance, let’s say you are looking to change careers to something that will likely be a growth industry in the future. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently updated their list of the top 20 fastest growing occupations in the U.S. between 2022 and 2032, naming wind turbine service technicians, nurse practitioners, and data scientists as the top three fastest growing occupations. Using the COLI Adjusted Occupational Wage Comparison Tool, we can see the median wage for those occupations are as follows:

At first, you might be excited to see that, at least for the average data scientist or nurse practitioner, your median annual wage is a good chunk higher than the national median wage. But taking cost of living into account, you will likely end up earning less than the national median wage.

For instance, here are these occupations’ wages if you want to work in New York City:

Compare that to the same job in Texas. According to the BLS, Texas employed the most wind turbine service technicians as of May 2023. Using the COLI Adjusted Occupational Wage Comparison Tool, we can see that while the median wage for the state of Texas is slightly below the national median wage for wind turbine service technicians, adjusting for the cost of living in Texas brings it much closer to that national median wage of $61,770, meaning you will be earning a lot more in real dollars in Texas compared to New York City.

Adjusting wages based on cost of living is an important factor in choosing your occupation, as the same job is going to have different pay in different areas. The difference may be in your real purchasing power rather than that bigger, shinier paycheck. If you want to compare your occupational wage differences between states or even counties, the COLI Adjusted Occupational Wage Comparison Tool can help you understand what you will really earn.

To learn more about other products or how your organization can become a data collection participant for the Cost of Living Index, visit www.coli.org.