Data Methodology

How we source, compute,
and maintain our data

This is the detailed reference behind our Data Integrity summary — written for partners, schools, and institutions who need to understand exactly where every figure comes from and how it is produced.

Reviewed: July 2026Salary & growth: BLS 2023–24Primary sources: BLS · U.S. Census Bureau · O*NET

Sources of record

Every metric, and where it comes from

Quantitative data comes from published federal programs. Salary and growth figures reflect BLS 2023–24 data; state, local, and skills figures reflect the most recent published release of each program at the time of loading.

Metric	Source & program	How it's used	Refresh
Median salary	U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS)	National median annual wage for each occupation, by SOC code.	BLS 2023–24; annual
10-year growth outlook	U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Employment Projections (EP)	Projected 10-year percent change in employment, bucketed into an outlook tier.	BLS 2023–24; annual
Occupation identity	Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system — U.S. Office of Management & Budget / BLS	Every career is mapped to an official SOC code that ties it to the federal record.	Per SOC revision
Skills & education pathways	O*NET — U.S. Department of Labor	Typical skills, credentials, and education routes, reviewed by our editorial team.	Per O*NET release
State population & income	U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS)	State population, median household income, and demographic context.	Annual (per ACS release)
Local unemployment	U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)	State and county unemployment rates shown in workforce views.	Monthly / annual (per BLS release)

How each figure is derived

From federal dataset to student screen

We're precise about what is a direct federal figure and what is a presentation aid — including where we model a value to make it easier to read.

Median salary

The national median annual wage published by BLS OEWS for the occupation, keyed to its SOC code. This is a federal figure and is not modeled or adjusted by us.

Wage range

Shown as an illustrative band of approximately ±30% around the federal median, to communicate that pay varies by experience, employer, and location. This band is a presentation aid computed from the median — it is not a source-reported percentile, and actual local wages will differ.

10-year growth outlook & tiers

The projected 10-year percent change in employment from BLS Employment Projections, summarized into five plain-language tiers — Decline, Slow, Average, Fast, and Rapid — so students can compare outlooks at a glance. The underlying percentage is always available on the detailed profile.

SOC mapping & match confidence

Each career is mapped to a federal SOC code. Every profile carries a match-confidence label — for example a direct BLS match, a keyword match, or a catalog-derived match — so we always know how tightly a given profile is tied to the source record, and can prioritize review accordingly.

State & local workforce data

Population and median household income come from the Census Bureau (ACS); unemployment comes from BLS (LAUS). These are published federal statistics presented without modeling.

Career narrative & the role of AI

Plain-language descriptions ("what they do every day," typical skills, education path) are drafted against the verified figures above and carry an internal content-status label (for example: generated from catalog data, template draft, or human-reviewed). Where AI assists drafting, it is constrained to the verified data and reviewed by a person before publishing. AI never sets salaries, growth rates, or any quantitative figure.

Data governance

How we keep it accurate over time

Version-controlled source files

All figures live in committed, version-controlled data files — not scraped live from the open web. Every change is tracked and auditable in source history.

Provenance stamps

Each dataset is stamped with its source and a generation date, so any figure can be traced to the load that produced it.

Idempotent, reviewable loading

Data is loaded through a controlled, repeatable pipeline keyed on SOC codes and career slugs, so re-running it produces the same result and never silently overwrites reviewed content.

Correction workflow

Anyone can report a discrepancy. Corrections are triaged, applied at the source-file level, and re-published — we treat them as a first-class part of keeping the platform accurate.

Known limitations & scope

What our data does — and doesn't — claim

Stating limits plainly is part of being credible. Here is what to keep in mind when interpreting the figures.

Salary and growth figures are national. They are not cost-of-living-adjusted for a specific city, and local pay will differ.
The wage range is an illustrative ±30% band around the median, not a source-reported percentile spread.
Employment projections are federal estimates of future trends, not guarantees.
LaunchPoint Navigator is an educational tool. It explains how careers, earnings, and college costs work — it does not provide personalized financial, investment, or lending advice, or recommend financial products.

Glossary

Key terms

SOC code: Standard Occupational Classification — the federal system that gives every occupation a unique identifier.
OEWS: Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics — the BLS program that publishes wage data by occupation.
Employment Projections: The BLS program that forecasts 10-year employment change by occupation.
ACS: American Community Survey — the U.S. Census Bureau survey behind population and income statistics.
LAUS: Local Area Unemployment Statistics — the BLS program behind state and county unemployment rates.

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