Methodology
Data Freshness
SalaryLabs monitors official US government sources on a weekly schedule. When IRS, BLS, SSA, or DOL update their data, our calculators, methodology references, and API endpoints are reviewed and updated.
How the data pipeline works
SalaryLabs runs a Cloudflare Worker that fetches official US government source data on a weekly schedule (every Monday at 05:00 UTC). Each metric is fetched from its source URL, stored with a SHA-256 hash and provenance record, and exposed via a public facts endpoint. When the build runs, the latest data is pulled from the Worker and regenerated into a TypeScript constants file that every calculator, the embed SDK, and the API use at request time.
This means: if the IRS publishes a new revenue procedure updating the 2026 brackets, our take-home pay calculator reflects the new brackets within one build cycle of the next Monday cron.
The pipeline is fully automated. There is no manual data entry for federal limits, wage bases, or contribution caps.
Sources monitored
We pull from 6 primary sources. Each source is fetched at the cadence shown below, with last-checked timestamps and provenance recorded per metric.
| Source | Full name | What we pull | Update frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRS | Internal Revenue Service | Federal income tax brackets, Publication 15-T withholding, IRA and 401(k) contribution limits, HSA limits, standard deduction, EITC thresholds | Annually (Jan-Feb) + mid-year when Rev. Proc. issued |
| BLS | Bureau of Labor Statistics | Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) | CPI monthly, OEWS annually (April), OOH biennial |
| SSA | Social Security Administration | Wage base (taxable maximum), Social Security and Medicare contribution rates, Additional Medicare Tax thresholds | Annually (Oct-Nov, effective Jan 1) |
| DOL | Department of Labor — Wage and Hour Division | FLSA federal minimum wage, overtime rules, salary thresholds for exempt vs non-exempt employees, tipped employee rules | When rule changes are published (multi-year cycles) |
| BEA | Bureau of Economic Analysis | Regional Price Parities (RPP) for state-level cost-of-living context | Annually (typically Q3 of following year) |
| Federal Reserve | Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System | Treasury bill, note, and bond yields (for retirement/savings rate context) | Daily (we sample weekly for snapshot purposes) |
What triggers a calculator update
- New tax year: IRS publishes Rev. Proc. — annual federal brackets, standard deduction, EITC thresholds update
- SSA annual notice: wage base (taxable max) and contribution rates change effective January 1
- DOL rule change: FLSA minimum wage, salary thresholds, or overtime rules revised
- BLS quarterly: CPI releases shift FICA bracket commentary (not used in calculations, only reference data)
- State-level change: individual state income tax rate or RPP updates
Calculators, embed widgets, the API, and downloadable Excel/CSV models all share the same canonical data source — so a single update propagates everywhere within one build cycle.
How to verify
We expose the full canonical data feed at/facts.json (machine-readable, CC0 1.0 licensed). For per-metric provenance (last fetched, source URL, SHA-256 hash), see thecitation graphcovering all 21 topics.
Each citation entry links to the official government source URL we pulled from, so you can verify the data independently.
Current pipeline status
- Last data check
- Data source worker version
v1.0.0- Build ID
#53- Auto-refresh schedule
- Weekly, Mondays 05:00 UTC
The admin-only dashboard at/admin/data-freshness/shows per-metric last-fetched timestamps if you want a deeper view.