Salary headlines love the word “average,” but average can mean two very different things. Getting them mixed up can make a job look better or worse paid than it is.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2024, gross annual wages.
The two numbers
- Median (50th percentile): the middle of the pay range. Line every worker up by pay; the median is the one in the middle. Half earn less, half earn more.
- Mean (average): add up everyone’s pay and divide by the number of workers.
When pay is skewed — a few people earn a lot more than most — the mean sits above the median.
The gap, in real numbers
| Measure | All US jobs |
|---|---|
| Median wage | $49,500 |
| Mean wage | $67,920 |
The mean is 37% higher than the median across all US jobs. That gap exists because high earners (the physicians, pilots and managers in our highest-paying jobs list) pull the average up, while the typical worker sits near the median.
It shows up in individual jobs too
Compare a job’s mean and median to gauge how skewed its pay is:
| Occupation | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | $151,160 | far above (top earners skew it) |
| Software Developers | $133,080 | $144,570 |
| Registered Nurses | $93,600 | close to median |
Where the mean is much higher than the median (lawyers, physicians), a minority of star earners dominate. Where they are close (nurses), pay is more evenly distributed.
Which to use
- Use the median to answer “what does a typical X earn?” — it is the honest center of the range.
- Use the mean for totals (a payroll line, an economy-wide wage bill).
- When you see a single “average salary” quoted, check which one it is. They can differ by tens of thousands of dollars.
For the full picture of a job’s pay, look at the whole range — the 10th to 90th percentile — not a single number. See our wage percentiles explainer, and check where your own salary ranks.
Bottom line
Median = typical. Mean = average, skewed up by top earners. For comparing your pay or judging a job offer, the median is almost always the number that matters.