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How Much Do They Really Make? The Best Public Salary Databases You Can Really Trust

Wondering how much your kid's teacher earns? Your city police chief? Or maybe you're in negotiations for a salary and want actual benchmarks? Public salary databases have the answers — and yes, they're completely above board.

In an era when transparency is more crucial than ever, pay data is no longer hidden in corporate closets. Across the United States, public salary databases offer open access to real income data — not soft estimates, but hard dollar figures tied to names, titles, and institutions.

These tools are not just for the curious. They are useful tools for job hunters, HR professionals, researchers, reporters, and anyone who requires a more comprehensive understanding of the job market. But like any tool, you have to know which databases are trustworthy and how to use them effectively.

Let's break down just how to access salary data, what tools are most effective, and why some databases are far superior to others.

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What Is a Public Salary Database?

A public salary database is an online site that provides you with searchable salary data, typically on government employees — think teachers, police officers, bureaucrats, and state university officials. Such lists are public records because tax money funds these salaries, and most jurisdictions are required by law to be transparent.

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Why Should You Use One?

If you're:

1. Negotiating your next job offer,
2. Benchmarking industry pay norms,
3. Researching career paths,
4. Browsing public spending, or just
5. Satisfying curiosity,

these databases offer real, viable information, not guesstimates from past studies.

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What is the Best Pay Database to Lookup?

Let's be honest: not all pay databases are created equal. Some are clunky, outdated, or misleading. But there are some standouts out there which provide accurate, searchable, and comprehensive pay information — both governmental and education institutions.

Here's a rundown of the top sources you should spend your time on.

The Best Public Salary Databases – A Practical Guide

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH)

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/

If you're looking for the best in salary data, stop here.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is a high-data, well-organized, and future-oriented portrait of hundreds of occupations across the country.

✅ How to Use It – Step by Step:

1. Go to the site and browse by occupation category — i.e., Healthcare, Computer & IT, Education, Legal, Construction, etc.
2. Choose a specific occupation — e.g.: Registered Nurse or Software Developer.
3. You will be shown an extensive page with: median annual pay, typical entry-level education, work experience requirements,  job outlook (10-year growth projections), number of jobs
4. To see state-specific data, go to the "State & Area Data" tab — it shows salary variations by state or metropolitan area.
5. There's even a "Similar Occupations" tab to explore similar occupations.

Expert Tip:
This is not a name-based compensation database — it's superior. It gives you industry benchmarks from real labor market information, and it's ideal for salary negotiation, career development, and economic research. It's updated regularly, sound in methodology, and completely free.

If you're serious about discovering earning capacity in any field, start here.

2. SeeThroughNY – New York State Public Payrolls

https://www.seethroughny.net/payrolls

One of the clearest and best-run public pay databases in America, this website specifically focuses on New York State and allows you to search by:

1. Names of employees
2. Occupations
3. Employers
4. Gross annual compensation

If you're considering a school board or an agency, regardless of how senior, this website offers actual data, unfiltered, and often multi-year salary trends.

Unlike national statistical databases, this one associates actual persons with salary figures. It's an eye-opener when you see just how much high-level government officials and government workers receive.

3. FedsDataCenter – Federal Employee Salaries

https://www.fedsdatacenter.com/federal-pay-rates/

If you're digging into federal wages, this database is your resource. It releases salaries by:

1. Name
2. Job title
3. Agency
4. Location
5. Pay grade and scale (GS levels)

You’ll also find explanations of how the General Schedule (GS) pay system works — a must-know for anyone navigating federal employment.

Bonus:
You can filter and sort the data by agency, state, or pay level, which makes it far more user-friendly than most government portals.

4. GovSalaries – State and Local Government Pay

https://govsalaries.com/

This site aggregates salary data from numerous states and cities, so it's excellent to cross-compare. You can search by:

1. Name
2. Job title
3. Employer
4. State

It's sleek, straightforward, and highly intuitive — no clunky government UI to be found. You'll also get basic visual charts and trends, which make the raw numbers more understandable.

Pro Tip:
Use GovSalaries when you'd like to compare salary scales across states or find high-paying regions for your profession.

5. North Carolina OSC Salary Database

https://www.ncosc.gov/public-information/state-employee-salary-database

This is North Carolina state employees and provides:

1. Full name
2. Department
3. Job title
4. Annual salary

The search interface is simple, and the information is updated frequently. While state-specific, it's an excellent example of how state-level transparency needs to be done.

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Bonus: Academic Salary Survey Resources

University of Virginia – Salary Surveys and Resources

If you're researching salary trends across industries or graduate job statistics, this resource library is gold.

You'll find:

1. Industry pay comparisons
2. Graduate alumni salary surveys
3. Field-based benchmarks

Data like this is incredibly useful to students, researchers, or early-career professionals trying to estimate the real ROI of a degree.

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✅ Final Thoughts: Don't Just Look — Interpret

There is salary data all around us, but there's good salary data and bad. Use these publicly available databases to not only check numbers, but to glean worthwhile insights:

1. Are you getting taken advantage of in your job?
2. Is your career in a fast-growing industry?
3. What are people with your same title making where you live?

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📚 Want to Explore More State-Specific Salary Data?

If you're looking to dive deeper into public salary records at the state level, we’ve put together detailed guides to help you navigate individual databases even more efficiently:

1. Curious about salaries at the University of North Carolina system? Don’t miss our step-by-step UNC Salary Database Guide.
2. Interested in government pay data from the Midwest? Check out our comprehensive Illinois Salary Database Guide.
3. Exploring public employee salaries in the South? Our South Carolina State Salary Database Guide walks you through the process clearly and practically.