Getting Started
Overview
The Living Wage vs. Postsecondary Graduate Earnings tool comprises three major sections: filters, a map, and a table. The filters are located to the right of the map and are all single-value drop-down boxes. To the left of the filters are two visualizations: a map showing the living wage by metropolitan area and a table showing the variance between the living wage for those areas and earnings from the Postsecondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) data set.
Understanding the Visualizations
Living Wage by Metropolitan Area (Map)
This map displays the living wage by metropolitan area in the selected destination state. Hovering over a metropolitan area in the map will show the name and living wage for that block.
Variance Between Living Wage and Program Earnings (Table)
Next to each metropolitan area in the state are several columns with living wage and earnings data:
Living Wage: Displays the living wage for the metropolitan area and family configuration.
Program Earnings: Displays the earnings of graduates for the institution and program of study.
Variance: Displays the nominal difference between the living wage and program earnings.
Variance %: Displays the percent difference between the living wage and program earnings.
Using the Filters
The filters in this tool allow the user to narrow earnings data to a particular subset if desired. These filters are grouped into three sections to help the user make their selections more easily:
About Your Studies
Filters in this section pertain to where and what the student studied:
Graduating Institution
Use this filter to select the institution awarding a credential. Use the search box that appears with the drop-down box to search for a particular college or university in the list.
Degree Level
Use this filter to select a degree level for analysis.
Graduation Cohort
Use this filter to select a specific cohort for analysis. Select All Cohorts to review earnings data across all cohorts available.
Program of Study
Use this filter to select a high-level program of study, such as Engineering. Select All Instructional Programs to review earnings data for all programs.
About Where You Want to Go
Filters in this section pertain to where the student wants to go after graduation and the earnings period:
State Name
Use this filter to select a destination state for analysis.
Earnings Period
Use this filter to select the period after graduation to review earnings data for: 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years.
About Your Family
Filters in this section pertain to the family configuration of the student:
Adults in Family
Use this filter to select the number of working adults in the family.
Children in Family
Use this filter to select the number of children in the family.
Additional Notes
The filters in this tool are context-dependent, and the values for each one will update based on the values selected in other filters.
In some cases, there may be no data available for a particular intersection of filter values. For example, once Masters has been selected as a value for Degree Level, only data for programs of study available at that level for the selected institution will be displayed.
Values in each of the filters are based on available data from the PSEO Explorer. Summary data for all categories in a filter are available for all filters except State Name, Degree Level, Adults in Family, and Children in Family - a specific value must be selected for each of these.