I have never... never... been anywhere close to what they call the median and mean for the positions and geographic areas I've been in.
Well, the chances are nearly 100% that you'll be on one side of the median or the other.
I'm looking for a new Lead Inspector and I'm not going to be given what they claim is average for an inspector in NJ to work with.
I once took a job as a QM and inherited a disgruntled, highly-skilled CMM operator. I estimated that he was being paid about 60-70% of his market value, but I also realized that he had accepted a lowball offer to begin with, so he had sort of made his own bed. Nonetheless, he was very good at what he did, required almost no supervision, got along well with everybody, and was kind to children and small animals. The company refused to give him what he was asking for, so he went elsewhere and got it.
In the course of my trying to convince the bosses to keep him, the HR manager said, "We do surveys every so often to determine what other companies are paying, and his pay rate is competitive." I asked what "competitive" means. "It means that our pay rates are pretty near the average for similar jobs in this area," came the predictable reply. "So," I said, "we're looking for pretty-near-average employees? Then I can understand why we'd want to get rid of this guy." :truce: