Editorial Standards

SalaryMBA is only as useful as it is trustworthy. These are the standards we hold every page to. They are enforced in our code — through a provenance system and automated checks — not just stated as intentions.

1. No figure without a source

We do not publish a salary, ROI, cost, or debt figure as verified unless it is backed by a primary source. Every public data point carries a source badge identifying the source name, type, year, and whether it is verified, an estimate, demonstration data, or a user submission.

2. Occupational benchmarks are never dressed up as MBA outcomes

Occupational wage benchmarks (what a role pays across all workers) and verified MBA-specific outcomes are fundamentally different, and we never blur them. Benchmarks are always labeled as occupational and “not MBA-specific.” This is the single rule the whole site is built around.

3. Thin data is gated, not guessed

When a sample is too small to be meaningful, we say so instead of publishing a shaky number. Display gates govern how much we’ll show at each sample size — from “insufficient data” up to full breakdowns — and pages that don’t clear the bar are excluded from search indexing rather than padded out.

4. Estimates are labeled as estimates

Calculator outputs and cost-of-living adjustments are clearly marked as estimates, never as facts. We would rather under-claim than overstate what the data supports.

5. Sponsorship never touches the data

We may run advertising and clearly labeled sponsored placements to fund the free content, but sponsorship can never change a ranking, a salary figure, or an ROI estimate. Paid outbound links are marked as sponsored. Advertising is visually distinct from editorial content.

6. Corrections are welcome and acted on

We would rather fix a number than defend it. If you find an error or have a better primary source, tell us and we will investigate and correct it.

Our sources

Our primary sources include the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics), the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (Regional Price Parities), and the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard). The full approach — including how each source is retrieved and gated — is documented in our methodology.