I stumbled upon a slick salary tool on the Seattle PI’s website:
http://www.seattlepi.com/data/databases/wage_comparisons.asp
From the above link, just pick the job position you want to compare (i.e.: hip hop singer/song-writer) and get mean and median salaries. They have all kinds of positions ranging from actuaries and accountants to veterinarians and writers. The data is culled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (currently May 2008 data, about 2 years old) and does NOT cover the self-employed.
This should be a good starting place for determining your worth and what you should expect for a typical salary in various jobs around the Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue area. Use it to motivate yourself for negotiating your next raise, or deciding upon a career change.
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Here’s some sample date for a couple of careers:
| 1) Metropolitan Area | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
| Occupation | Registered nurses |
| Median Annual Wage | $74,880 |
| Mean Annual Wage | $74,890 |
| Employees in Region | 29,940 |
| Median Hourly Pay | $36.00 |
| Mean Hourly Pay | $36.00 |
| 2) Metropolitan Area | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
| Occupation | Engineers, all other |
| Median Annual Wage | $92,560 |
| Mean Annual Wage | $90,650 |
| Employees in Region | 5,810 |
| Median Hourly Pay | $44.50 |
| Mean Hourly Pay | $43.58 |
| 3) Metropolitan Area | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
| Occupation | Advertising sales agents |
| Median Annual Wage | $49,290 |
| Mean Annual Wage | $57,680 |
| Employees in Region | 2,110 |
| Median Hourly Pay | $23.70 |
| Mean Hourly Pay | $27.73 |
| 4) Metropolitan Area | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
| Occupation | Bartenders |
| Median Annual Wage | $28,530 |
| Mean Annual Wage | $27,690 |
| Employees in Region | 6,460 |
| Median Hourly Pay | $13.72 |
| Mean Hourly Pay | $13.31 |
