Where the Numbers Come From

Every figure in every report traces back to an official federal source. No proprietary estimates, no black boxes. Here's exactly what we use, how we use it, and how you can verify it yourself.

Federal Data Sources

Four public datasets. All maintained by federal agencies. All independently accessible.

BLS OEWS

Regional wages, employment levels, and location quotients for 393 metro areas across 800+ occupations. Published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Annual Current: May 2024 bls.gov/oes →

BLS Employment Projections

National 10-year growth rates, annual openings, and typical education requirements for 830+ occupations.

Biennial Next: Sep 2026 bls.gov/emp →

O*NET Database

Canonical task statements, technology profiles, and certification data for 1,000+ occupations. Developed by the DOL.

Quarterly Current: v30.1 onetonline.org →

IPEDS / College Scorecard

Institution data, program completions, and student outcomes for 5,000+ institutions. Published by NCES.

Annual Current: 2022–23 AY collegescorecard.ed.gov →

How Data Reaches Your Report

Four steps between the federal source and the number in your compliance document. Nothing proprietary happens to the data along the way.

1

Match job postings to O*NET tasks

Your uploaded job postings are semantically compared against O*NET occupation task statements. Each posting sentence is matched to the canonical task list for your SOC code, identifying which tasks employers are actively requesting.

2

Look up BLS data for your region and occupation

Wages, employment, growth projections, and location quotient are pulled directly from BLS datasets using your specific SOC code and metro area code. No transformation is applied — the values are read as-is.

3

Cross-validate across datasets

SOC codes, MSA codes, and area titles are checked for consistency across all data sources. If an occupation–region combination has suppressed data in BLS, the report flags it rather than estimating.

4

Assemble into your compliance framework

Data is organized into the report format required by your framework — Workforce Pell, Perkins V, WIOA, accreditation, or planning — with the source cited next to every number.

Trace Any Number

Pick a data point and follow it step-by-step from the federal dataset to your report — then verify it yourself on the source website.

1

BLS publishes OEWS data

Each May, BLS surveys 1.1 million employers and publishes wage data for every occupation in every metro area. The raw dataset covers 393 metros × 800+ SOC codes.

2

We look up your exact intersection

When you select a metro area and SOC code, we query the OEWS dataset for that specific combination — for example, area_code: 12060 (Atlanta) × soc_code: 31-9092 (Medical Assistants). The value returned is the annual_median field with no transformation.

3

It appears in your report

The wage is displayed alongside the MSA name and area code so reviewers can see exactly which region's data they're looking at. Reports that evaluate wage thresholds (Workforce Pell, WIOA) compare this value against the BLS national all-occupations median ($48,060).

Verify it yourself

Go to bls.gov/oes → One occupation for one area. Select your metro area and enter the SOC code shown in the report header. The Annual median wage column will match the figure in your report.

Verified across all 553,192 data points in the BLS source file. View validation study →

1

BLS publishes Employment Projections

Every two years, BLS projects employment levels 10 years out for every occupation. The current edition covers 2024–2034. This is national data — BLS does not publish regional projections.

2

We look up your SOC code

The change_percent and annual_openings fields are looked up by SOC code from BLS Table 1.7. Annual openings combines growth openings with replacement needs (retirements, career changes). These are national figures clearly labeled as such.

3

It appears in your report

The Accreditation report displays these in a dedicated "National Employment Projections" section. Perkins and Workforce Pell reports use them in demand validation. Reports always note "national" scope when displaying this data.

Verify it yourself

Go to bls.gov/emp → Table 1.7. Search for the SOC code in the report header. The percent change and median annual wage columns will match.

All 832 occupations verified for math consistency, threshold accuracy, and cross-dataset plausibility. View validation study →

1

O*NET defines canonical tasks

For each occupation, O*NET publishes 15–25 task statements describing what workers actually do. These are developed by occupational analysts and validated by worker surveys.

2

We match job postings against these tasks

Each sentence in your uploaded job postings is embedded and compared to the O*NET task statements using semantic similarity. We report which tasks were confirmed by employer postings and which were not — even when the wording differs.

3

It appears in your report

Reports show the task coverage percentage (e.g., "17 of 22 O*NET tasks confirmed across 15 postings"), with each task listed as core (80%+), common (40–79%), or occasional (<40%) based on confirmation rate.

Verify it yourself

Go to onetonline.org. Search for the SOC code in the report header. Under "Tasks," you'll see the same task statements listed in the report.

1

BLS calculates Location Quotient

Location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in your metro area compared to the national average. An LQ of 1.2 means the occupation is 20% more concentrated locally. BLS computes this directly from OEWS survey data — it is not an estimate.

2

We read it directly from BLS

The location_quotient field comes straight from the OEWS dataset for your metro × SOC combination. No computation or adjustment. We display it with standard interpretation: ≥1.2 above-average, 0.8–1.19 near-average, below 0.8 below-average.

3

It appears in your report

All five regional reports display LQ with the same thresholds and color coding, ensuring consistent interpretation regardless of which compliance framework you're using.

Verify it yourself

Go to bls.gov/oes → One occupation for one area. Select your metro area and SOC code. The "Location quotient" column will show the same value.

What Data Goes Where

Every report draws from the same underlying data. This shows exactly which data points appear in each report type.

Data Point Source Workforce Pell WIOA ETPL Perkins V Accreditation Curriculum Employer
Median Wage (regional) BLS OEWS
Wage Distribution (10th/90th) BLS OEWS
Regional Employment BLS OEWS
Location Quotient BLS OEWS
Growth Rate (national) BLS Projections
Annual Openings (national) BLS Projections
Task Alignment / Coverage O*NET + Postings
Certifications O*NET + Postings
Technologies O*NET + Postings
Emerging Requirements Postings (derived)

Dig Deeper

Understand our analytical methodology, review validation studies, or see how this data powers compliance documentation.