Every salary range on Equaly/xx.ai is backed by official European statistics or validated survey data. This page explains each source — what it is, how it works, and how we use it.
Listed in order of data type: official government statistics first, followed by validated surveys and network data.
The European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) is the largest European sample survey providing data on the labour market. It covers employment, unemployment, and earnings across all EU member states. The LFS uses a standardised questionnaire across all national statistical institutes.
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union. The Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) is a four-yearly survey providing harmonised data on gross annual earnings across EU member states. It covers establishments with 10 or more employees in NACE sections B–S.
CBS is the Dutch government's official statistics agency. Its Structure of Earnings Survey (Arbeidsmarkt in Cijfers) provides comprehensive data on wages, hours and working conditions in the Netherlands. Data is collected from registered employers and is mandatory for covered organisations.
SCB (Statistics Sweden) is Sweden's official government statistics agency. Its Short-term Employment Statistics (KS) and Wage and Salary Statistics provide official earnings data covering all sectors of the Swedish economy. The data is collected from all Swedish employers through administrative registers.
DESTATIS is the German Federal Statistical Office. It publishes official earnings data from the Structure of Earnings Survey (Verdienststrukturerhebung) and the Quarterly Earnings Survey (Verdiensterhebung), covering all sectors of the German economy. Data collection is mandatory for sampled employers.
WageIndicator is an international, nonprofit foundation collecting salary data through online surveys and partnered labour market research. Data is validated using statistical weighting methods and cross-referenced against national wage statistics. Provides granular occupation-level salary data across more than 100 countries.
A combined source record that averages Eurostat Structure of Earnings data with WageIndicator survey data for the same occupation and country. Used where a single source alone has limited coverage; the combination improves sample depth for select role-country combinations.
Market Estimates are modelled salary figures generated by extrapolating from official national statistical indices (CBS, Eurostat SES, SCB, DESTATIS) to fill occupation-country combinations not covered by primary official surveys. They are derived from regression models trained on verified official data and applied to ESCO occupation codes with documented NACE sector weights. These records supplement — but do not replace — primary official data. Where official data exists for a role and country, it always takes precedence. Range cards relying solely on Market Estimates are capped at Moderate confidence.
Anonymised salary bands submitted by HR professionals and compensation specialists.
HR professionals and compensation specialists contribute anonymised salary bands — P25, P50 and P75 — for roles and countries they know well from first-hand experience. Each contribution is reviewed by the Equaly/xx.ai team for plausibility before being used. Community data supplements — not replaces — official statistics; it is used only to improve confidence scores for roles where official data is thin.