Our Data Sources
At TradeCareerPath.com, every wage, job-growth, school, and licensing number you see comes from primary U.S. government data. We do not estimate, round, or invent figures. The table below lists each dataset we rely on, the agency that publishes it, and the exact release or vintage we are currently using.
| Data | Provider | Vintage |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | May 2025 |
| Employment Projections | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | 2024-2034 |
| Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System | National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS) | 2024 |
| College Scorecard (school-level outcomes) | U.S. Department of Education | latest release |
| College Scorecard (field-of-study earnings) | U.S. Department of Education | latest release (updated 2026-06-12) |
| Occupational licensing requirements | CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) | latest release (updated 2026-02-22) |
| Registered apprenticeship programs | CareerOneStop / Apprenticeship.gov (U.S. Department of Labor) | latest release (updated 2025-10-25) |
| CPI inflation & JOLTS labor turnover | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | latest release (updated 2026-06-14) |
| Fair Market Rents (rent by county/metro) | U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development | FY2025 (updated 2026-06-14) |
| O*NET occupation profiles (skills, tasks, tools, job zones) | U.S. Department of Labor (O*NET / Employment & Training Admin.) | O*NET 29.1 (updated 2026-06-13) |
How to Read These
- BLS OEWS – wage figures (median pay, percentiles, and pay by state and metro area) on our trade and career pages.
- BLS Employment Projections – the job-growth and job-outlook numbers (projected change over the 2024-2034 decade).
- IPEDS – the directory of schools: institution names, locations, programs offered by CIP code, and distance-education availability.
- College Scorecard – school-level outcomes used in our rankings and earnings figures (graduation rate, retention, median earnings, and net price).
- CareerOneStop – state licensing requirements and registered apprenticeship contacts on our state and trade guides.
Our rankings combine IPEDS and College Scorecard data into the BOC Score. Money cannot move a school up our rankings. See our ranking methodology for the full scoring formula.
Outcome figures such as graduation, completion, and job placement rates are reported by schools and by federal data sources, reflect prior student cohorts, and are not a prediction or promise of future results. Individual outcomes may vary.
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.