Salary Survey Data Needed!

kdspa

Any suggestions on where to find salary survey data that is either state, city/locale or industry specific? We want to compare our pay rates to see how competitive we are, but for the most part all I can find is national data.

Any help would be appreciated!

HRLASS

First choice would be your state or local branch of the state Department of Labor. They generally retain that information for the state and frequently have it broken down by geographic area or for major metropolis areas.

Second, depending on the size of your city, the city may also have some of that information in the economic development office as a guideline and/or tool for companies interested in relocating to your area.

Third, depending on your type of work, if you have unions in the area, occasionally state prevailing wage rates (particularly for construction under Little Davis Bacon acts) are based on state or local union wage rates.

HRCalico

HRLASS is right on - our state DOL has a wealth of info on this. I poked around the MI site, though, and I didn't see anything right off. Give them a call (it's your tax dollars at work, after all!) and ask them to point you in the right direction.

Lass is right on with the other points, too.

Dutch2

If all else fails, call your competitors and ask them. Here in Central MO it is not uncommone for one financial company to call others every few years just to see where you are. We also get information from employement applications where the ee lists their previous rates of pay (of course these should be verified). There are also at least two state wide financial organizations that conduct annual salary and benefit surveys. If you participate in the survey the results are not very expensive.
Good luck...

LivindonSouth

You may also find that a group of employers in your labor market area participate in an annual salary/benefits survey and provide the results free to participants. These are always better and more timely than the state DOL data which usually typically lags significantly and only represents those who voluntarily report.

The best way to 'horn your way' into one of the existing survey groups is to first find out who does the survey, call them and promise to participate from that point forward. More than likely they will welcome your participation and data and will provide you with the current survey if you are in an industry that shares the occupations common to their survey. I would start by calling the local or county industrial development group or chamber of commerce to ask who might have such a survey. Or calling nearby firms in similar industry. I have found that well done local surveys among a group of constant participants is much more beneficial than out of state surveys that cost an arm and a leg and better than government data.

Good luck.




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