Is There a Way to Compare With National Rather Than Regional Or Local Scales?
Yes. In some situations, especially for highly skilled experts, job markets may be national in scale. Not that one should accept pay at national levels if local standards are higher! Rather, in some situations, employers in locations that normally pay less may seek to match national levels of pay in order to attract the people they need. To get national results with no adjustments for region, divide salary values by the factor values for region and metro area, or use a region and metro combination where the factors are 1.0, such as the Pacific region and the “Other” choice for metro area.
