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When job seekers are looking for 
industries to start their careers, salary 
is a crucial consideration to them. 
Before they browse job openings, 
they might turn to reports on the 
usual income in a particular job to 
estimate their earning potential. This 
will tell them what job families can 
pay high and which companies are 
leading the job market in terms of 
compensation. A reliable report on 
the usual earnings that an employee 
can get in a given field is the Median 
Salary.
	
In this article, we will learn how 
to calculate the median salary and 
how it can help companies price a job 
that will be attractive to employees.
WHAT IS A MEDIAN 
SALARY?
The Median Salary is the amount 
that falls in the middle when you 
arrange all salaries of a certain job 
title or industry in numerical order, 
from lowest to highest. In a group of 
employees with similar job titles, the 
median salary is the midpoint figure 
where half of the sample in the group 
falls below the amount and the other 
half earns higher pay. It gives you 
an estimate of the general wage that 
your employee is earning, consider­
ing that they all have the same level 
of work experience.
HOW DO YOU CALCULATE 
THE MEDIAN SALARY?
In a list of salaries for a given job ti­
tle, if the total number in the data set 
is an odd number, you simply have to 
arrange the figures in numerical or­
der, from the smallest to the highest 
pay, and identify the middle point to 
determine the Median Salary. 
	
For example, data collected for 
the annual wages of a Production 
Revenue Accountant I are as follows: 
$52,071, $56,547, $61,463, $67,038, 
and $72,113. The median would be 
$61,463 because exactly half of the 
salaries are lower than the median 
and the other half are higher.
	
However, when the total num­
ber in a data set is an even number, 
you simply take the two middle 
figures, add them together, and 
divide by two. Let’s say, the aggregate 
data collected of OR Nurses’ annu­
al incomes in the US are $68,636, 
$76,630, $85,410, $94,420, $102,623, 
and $144,110, the Median Pay will be 
computed by arranging the list from 
lowest to highest pay, getting the two 
middle figures, adding them together, 
and then dividing them by 2. We will 
get $89,915 as the Median Pay, an 
amount in the middle of the list of 
OR Nurses’ annual incomes.
	
Salary.com’s Salary Wizard is a 
tool that helps you see how much 
Median Salary: How to Price Jobs Competitively
Written by Salary.com Staff
Paying above the Median Salary for a specific job title and industry 
can encourage your employees to stay in your organization.

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