# Occupation Salary by Metro (`a.jonzy/occupation-salary-by-metro`) Actor

Wage percentiles for an occupation in a U.S. metro area: DOL LCA filings next to BLS OEWS, with sources.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/a.jonzy/occupation-salary-by-metro.md
- **Developed by:** [Aidan Jones](https://apify.com/a.jonzy) (community)
- **Categories:** Jobs, Business, Agents
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Occupation Salary by Metro: LCA wage percentiles next to BLS OEWS

Get salary percentiles for an occupation in a U.S. metropolitan area from two official sources side by side: wages certified on **H-1B Labor Condition Application (LCA) filings** (DOL) and **BLS OEWS** percentiles for the same occupation and metro. You also get the LCA-to-OEWS ratio and the top filing employers in that metro. It returns the summary, not raw filing rows.

Official data only. Nothing is scraped from any website; the Actor reads a cleaned copy of the DOL and BLS files through a hosted API.

### What you get

For each occupation and metro:

- LCA wage percentiles (p10 to p90) and the number of filings
- BLS OEWS percentiles, OEWS median and employment
- `ratioToOews`: LCA median divided by OEWS median
- Top employers by filings in that metro
- `sources` with as-of dates and a data notice

### Price

Pay per event, no subscription:

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| Actor start | $0.005 per start event. Apify bills one start event per GB of memory, minimum one; the default run here uses 512 MB, so one event |
| Salary record | $0.008 per occupation-metro record returned |

Combinations with no data come back as `status: "not_found"` and are **free**. Example: 20 records cost $0.005 + 20 x $0.008 = $0.165. Set a maximum cost per run in the Apify run options and the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

### Example input (works as is)

```json
{
  "occupations": ["15-1252"],
  "metros": ["san-jose", "dallas"],
  "maxMetrosPerOccupation": 5,
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `occupations` | SOC codes (`15-1252`) or occupation names (`Software Developers`) |
| `metros` | Metro slug, MSA code or name fragment (`san-jose`, `41940`, `Dallas`). Leave empty for the top metros by filing volume |
| `maxMetrosPerOccupation` | When no metros are given, how many top metros to return (default 5, max 50) |
| `maxItems` | Safety cap on records per run (default 200, max 2000) |

### Example output

Trimmed from a real run of this Actor (the full item also has a `notice` string and more employers):

```json
{
  "query": "15-1252",
  "status": "found",
  "soc": "15-1252",
  "occupation": "Software Developers",
  "metro": "San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA",
  "msaCode": "41940",
  "filings": 14027,
  "lcaWagePercentilesUsd": { "p10": 149365, "p25": 167000, "p50": 191886, "p75": 222820, "p90": 256387 },
  "oewsWagePercentilesUsd": { "p10": 138420, "p25": 173650, "p50": 213110, "p75": 226080, "p90": 289150 },
  "oewsMedianUsd": 213110,
  "ratioToOews": 0.9,
  "oewsEmployment": 87350,
  "topEmployers": [{ "employer": "Google", "filings": 3213 }, { "employer": "Apple", "filings": 1257 }],
  "sources": [
    { "name": "DOL OFLC LCA Disclosure Data FY2026 Q3", "as_of": "FY2026 Q3 release", "url": "https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance" },
    { "name": "BLS OEWS May 2025", "as_of": "May 2025", "url": "https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm" }
  ]
}
```

A run summary (`requested`, `found`, `notFound`, `errors`) is saved under the key-value store key `SUMMARY`.

### Data and limits (read this)

- **LCA wages are the bottom of each filing's offered range** (`WAGE_RATE_OF_PAY_FROM`), so LCA medians run low against OEWS, and percentiles are unweighted per filing. In the example above the LCA median is 0.9 of the OEWS median.
- LCA percentiles describe certified wages for visa filings, not all workers in the occupation. Use the OEWS columns for the general labor market. OEWS percentiles can be missing when BLS suppresses or top-codes an estimate.
- Coverage is the set of occupation and metro pairs loaded in the data API; live counts are on https://data-api.premed-toolkit.workers.dev/docs
- Source: U.S. Department of Labor OFLC LCA disclosure data and BLS OEWS (May 2025 estimates), both U.S. government publications. Not legal, immigration, or financial advice. Not affiliated with or endorsed by DOL or BLS.

### FAQ

**Do I need an API key?** No. Press Start.

**What is a SOC code?** The federal occupation code, for example `15-1252` for Software Developers. You can also type an occupation name; it is resolved by search.

**Why is my metro or occupation not found?** The pair may not be in the loaded set (see the live counts on the docs page). Try a nearby metro or leave `metros` empty to get the top metros by filing volume. Not-found is free.

**Can an AI agent call it?** Yes. Apify exposes Actors as tools through its MCP server (see https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp). The output is small and structured. It also works from Make, Zapier, n8n and the Apify API.

**I need volume.** Use the direct API: free tier (100 calls per month) and paid plans, with plans and docs at https://data-api.premed-toolkit.workers.dev/docs. More tools: https://filedwages.com

### Related

- [H-1B Employer Wage Lookup](https://apify.com/a.jonzy/h1b-employer-wage-lookup): percentiles and an OEWS ratio for a named employer.

# Actor input Schema

## `occupations` (type: `array`):

SOC codes such as 15-1252, or occupation names such as Software Developers.

## `metros` (type: `array`):

Metro slug, MSA code, or a name fragment, for example san-jose, 41940 or Dallas. Leave empty to get the top metros for each occupation by filing volume.

## `maxMetrosPerOccupation` (type: `integer`):

Used only when no metros are given: how many top metros (by filings) to return for each occupation.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Safety cap on records returned (and charged) in one run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "occupations": [
    "15-1252"
  ],
  "metros": [
    "san-jose",
    "dallas"
  ],
  "maxMetrosPerOccupation": 5,
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One item per occupation and metro requested. Items have status found, not_found or error.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Counts of found, not found and error items, and whether the run stopped at the charge limit.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "occupations": [
        "15-1252"
    ],
    "metros": [
        "san-jose",
        "dallas"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("a.jonzy/occupation-salary-by-metro").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "occupations": ["15-1252"],
    "metros": [
        "san-jose",
        "dallas",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("a.jonzy/occupation-salary-by-metro").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "occupations": [
    "15-1252"
  ],
  "metros": [
    "san-jose",
    "dallas"
  ]
}' |
apify call a.jonzy/occupation-salary-by-metro --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,a.jonzy/occupation-salary-by-metro"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/DYh5lWKtvZjdAfLcw/builds/HZYm8vOuAhHugniKc/openapi.json