How the WageBench Score works.
The WageBench Score is a 0-100 composite that consolidates pay, taxes, cost of living, license access, demand, and livability into a single ranking. It exists so two clinicians comparing the same SOC code in different states get one number that captures the full picture — not just sticker pay.
Eight public datasets. Six weighted signals. One score.
How the six components blend.
Pay carries the biggest single weight, but the score is intentionally not pay-only. Travel pages re-weight toward stipend efficiency and license portability.
Standard WageBench Score
Travel-Weighted Variant
A concrete walk-through.
Registered Nurses (SOC 29-1141) in Texas — illustrative figures.
| Component | Sub-score | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay Power | 78 | × 0.40 | 31.2 |
| Stipend Efficiency | 72 | × 0.15 | 10.8 |
| Demand (HPSA) | 55 | × 0.15 | 8.25 |
| License Access (NLC) | 100 | × 0.10 | 10.0 |
| Livability | 62 | × 0.15 | 9.3 |
| Stability | 60 | × 0.05 | 3.0 |
| WageBench Score (Texas RNs) | 72.5 | ||
Illustrative figures. Live data may differ as BLS, BEA, HUD, GSA, HRSA, and NCSBN sources refresh. The same calculation runs across every (occupation × area) combination in the WageBench dataset.
The six components
Each component is normalised to 0-100, then blended into the composite. The travel-weighted variant tilts the mix toward stipend efficiency and license portability.
Pay Power
Real (COL- and tax-adjusted) wage benchmarked against the national median for the occupation. 50 = parity with national; 100 ≈ double real pay.
Take-home (state-tax adjusted)
Annual median × (1 − effective state income tax) for a middle-income earner. Federal tax is applied uniformly and excluded from the cross-state comparison.
Real Wage (COL-adjusted)
Take-home scaled by the BEA Regional Price Parity index — what your paycheck actually buys locally.
License Compact Access
Whether the state belongs to the relevant interstate licensure compact (NLC for nurses, PT Compact, APRN Compact). Compact members score the floor of 100; non-members start at 30.
Demand (HPSA)
HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area score (0-26 scale, higher = more shortage) rescaled to 0-100. Captures where bonuses + crisis rates tend to surface.
Stipend Efficiency
GSA per-diem lodging cap (monthly) ÷ HUD Fair-Market Rent. Travel variant uses this heavily — assignments where the housing stipend overshoots local rent are tax-free upside.
Livability + Stability
AARP Livability Index where available, with a job-stability proxy placeholder. Both are intentionally low-weight until the underlying data is fully ingested.
Sources
Every input is a public, citable dataset. No proprietary survey panels.
BLS OEWS
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — annual employer survey covering 800+ SOC codes at national, state, MSA, and non-metro level.
Tax Foundation
Effective state income tax rate for middle-income earners, curated from Tax Foundation tables.
BEA Regional Price Parities
Bureau of Economic Analysis RPP for all-items, goods, services, and rents. 100 = national average.
HUD Fair Market Rents
HUD Office of Policy Development & Research — 40th-percentile gross rent (2-bedroom) per MSA.
GSA Per Diem
General Services Administration daily lodging + M&IE per-diem rates, the basis for travel-assignment housing stipends.
HRSA HPSA
Health Resources & Services Administration — Health Professional Shortage Area scores for primary care, dental, and mental health.
NLC / PT Compact / APRN Compact
Membership lists maintained by NCSBN (Nurse Licensure Compact), Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (PT Compact), and APRN Compact Commission.
AARP Livability Index
Curated composite where available; weighted lightly until full ingestion.
Net take-home model
The compare and offer tools turn a weekly rate into annual net-in-pocket. We take the taxable wages (gross minus any tax-free stipend), annualize them to a full-year pace, apply the real 2025 single-filer federal brackets (after the $15,000 standard deduction) plus FICA (Social Security 6.2% to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%) and the destination's effective state income-tax rate, then prorate that effective rate back to the assignment. Tax-free stipends (per-diem) are added only under a maintained tax home; housing is subtracted when the traveler pays rent.
- Wages, not contract bill rates. Figures start from BLS OEWS wages (or your entered offer), not agency contract rates — actual travel packages vary by season, specialty, and shift. Enter a real offer in the compare tool for a precise number.
- Single-filer approximation. Joint filers, credits, pre-tax deductions, and local taxes will shift the result. This is a comparison model, not tax advice.
Refresh + caveats
- Refreshed monthly. Underlying source datasets cadence vary (BLS annual, BEA annual, HUD annual, GSA fiscal-year, HRSA quarterly) — the composite is recomputed monthly to pick up whichever source has moved.
- Not total comp. BLS OEWS is base wage from employer reports. Bonus, equity, RVU productivity, on-call differentials, and sign-on are not captured.
- State tax is the effective middle-income rate. Top-marginal rates and brackets are stored separately; high-earner take-home will differ. Federal tax uses real 2025 single-filer brackets + FICA (see the net take-home model above).
- Travel variant ≠ default. The standard WageBench Score is permanent-resident weighted. Pages under /travel re-weight toward stipend + license access.
- Exact weights aren't the value. The value is having every input in one place. The weights are calibrated, periodically rebalanced, and intentionally not published cell-by-cell.