Salary Database

The STC Salary Database is a tool that can be used to conduct more powerful job searches, make a strong case for a raise, or prepare department payroll budgets. The data in the Salary Database are drawn from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).

Using 2010 data, the 2010-2011 Salary Database is an à la carte item, available for purchase by members and nonmembers. Excel files with the original data are also available for those who wish to be able to format the data in other ways.

Use the STC Salary Database if you are:

  • An employee looking for solid facts to back up a raise request
  • A manager seeking salary figures to assist with setting budgets or bidding for projects
  • A freelancer investigating average hourly fees for a different industry or city
  • A job-seeker needing insight on what industries and what geographic areas hold the most new jobs
  • Any technical communicator in need of either annual or hourly wage information

Because the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics, from which the Salary Database was drawn, is one of the most referenced wage guides by human resource professionals, STC members who use this tool will benefit from the same market intelligence that is relied upon when employers evaluate raises and make salary offers to new hires. The STC Salary Database not only provides firm numbers to back up fair requests and fair offers, giving technical communicators the insight they need in a tough job market, it also provides users with a competitive edge. Get the edge you need with the STC Salary Database.

Read an excerpt of the Salary Database, with the table of contents, Introduction, and snippets from each section.

New! Listen to a podcast interview with the economist who wrote the Salary Database and a recruiter discussing what's included and how it can work for you. Available in both WMV format and MP3 format.

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Two Ways to Purchase

STC members and customers may choose to purchase the 2010-2011 Salary Database as a single Complete Report in PDF format, as a series of Excel Workbooks, or both. Click the "Buy Now" button above and click on the item you wish to purchase.

Complete Report

The Complete Report is a single PDF containing data tables for all three datasets in a book format. In addition to detailed data tables, the Complete Report also provides a year-in-review analysis of the labor markets for technical writers by STC Consulting Economist, Richard O'Sullivan, and a series of national maps displaying the regional changes in technical writer employment and wages from the previous year. The Complete Report is available for $10 to members and $49 to nonmembers.

Alternatively, members and customers may purchase the STC Salary Database as Excel Workbooks. These workbooks are very helpful for those who would like to undertake their own cross-regional analyses or industry comparisons without the bother of having to convert the tables from an Acrobat file. Data users are able to download one, two, or all three of the workbooks and immediately start their own customized work (see below for details on the workbooks available). The Excel Workbooks can be purchased separately by members for $10 each and by nonmembers for $49 each.

Purchase the package and save: Order the Complete Report in PDF format and all three Excel Workbooks together and save! Members pay only $30 for all four products, while nonmembers can purchase the Complete Report and the set of three Excel Workbooks for just $149.

Excel Workbooks

STC offers three Excel Workbooks to allow you to format, analyze, and manipulate the data easily.

The Geographic Series contains all of the employment and wage data for the most recent three years for:

  • All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico
  • All 11 Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs)
  • All Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
  • The nonmetropolitan areas in which technical writers worked that year

The Industry Series provides industry employment and wage data for technical writers for all industries that employed technical writers during the most recent three years. The data are available at three levels of detail:

  • Major Industry Groups (2-digit North American Industrial Classification System [NAICS] codes); e.g., Healthcare and Social Assistance Services
  • Industry Groups (3-digit NAICS codes); e.g., hospitals
  • Industry Subsectors (4-digit NAICS codes) e.g., general medical and surgical hospitals

The Profession Series provides employment and wage data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for technical writers and four competing professions for 2008 through 2010.

Feedback

STC is always looking for ways to better serve members. Users of STC's Salary Database are invited to share their ideas for making this report even more valuable to a job search, hiring, or budgeting process. Send us your suggestions.