Wage surveys Economic Developers can actually use
Site selectors and local businesses need current, local wage and benefits data to make decisions. Sensible Surveys gives your county the numbers economic decisions depend on.
Why local data matters
Local Data You Can't Get Anywhere Else
To make local decisions, you need local data. The only way to get those answers is to ask the right questions in the right way. Sensible Surveys brings simplicity and ease-of-use to complex surveys, so local businesses and people give you the answers you need to make the decisions that matter.
Wage Data for Site Selection
When a site selector calls, the questions are specific: what do production roles pay here, what does the benefits package look like, and how current is the number? Published labor market data answers at the state or metro level, years after the fact. A county wage survey answers for your actual laborshed, with numbers collected this year from the employers a prospect would compete with.
That is the site selection data a workforce question actually needs: current, local, and benefits-inclusive. Results export as branded or clean PDFs, so the same benchmark that serves your local employers slots straight into a response packet.
A Business Retention and Expansion Deliverable
Business retention and expansion visits run on having something to bring to the table. The annual wage & benefit survey gives your BRE program a deliverable employers actually want: participate in the survey, get the local benchmark back. It turns the visit from a check-in into an exchange, and the response rate feeds on the same relationships the visits build.
Survey Planning
Before you launch, we can work with you to understand your needs and goals. Most programs start from our benefits survey template and adjust from there: we can recommend changes, update the questionnaire for you, and keep the structure consistent so your data stays comparable year over year.
What you get
The Sensible Surveys Platform
Our fully-featured software makes requesting surveys, collecting answers, and distributing results easy for everyone. Engage us to survey participants or run it yourself. Either way, you receive a year of access.
Advanced Benefits Survey Template
The default benefits survey covers every aspect necessary at industry and enterprise levels: PTO, insurance, retirement, wellness, and more.
Compensation Module
Customizable analytics dashboard with sorting, searching, and filters by industry, company size, employee types, shift types, and career path.
Surveys by industry
Most county programs start with the sector that drives the local economy. Each page below covers the roles, pay components, and confidentiality constraints specific to it.
Manufacturing wage survey
Production and skilled trades, shift premiums, and the small-cohort problem in a single county.
Healthcare compensation survey
Nursing and clinical roles by specialty, differentials, and per-cell confidentiality protection.
All compensation survey types
The four kinds of survey, which one fits your program, and the templates to start from.
Participant Assistance
Surveys only matter if participants complete them. Our team can help every step of the way.
Intro & Follow-up Phone Calls
US-based, full-time staff make calls to establish trust, help participants complete surveys, and explain the value of participation.
Welcome & Follow-up Emails
Personalized, automatic emails inform participants where they are in the process and remind them as deadlines approach.
Video Calls
We provide video calls to help participants get logged in and answer questions about how best to report their situation.
Survey Marketing
Participation is the difference between a half-finished spreadsheet and a benchmark you can defend. We can help you frame why participating matters to your audience: the data they get back, how their numbers compare, and why the survey is worth their time. Combined with the participant outreach above, this keeps completion rates up.
Support When & How You Need It
Whether you need a quick answer or end-to-end help running a survey, we’re available by phone, email, and video M–F, 9am – 5pm Eastern.
Program models
Three ways Economic Developers put the data to work
The survey is the same either way; what differs is who pays and who sees the report. Pick one model to start and change it as the program matures.
Public resource
A free service to the county
Employers who participate get the benchmark back at no charge. The county gets current local data for its own decisions, and the EDA earns standing as the place employers turn for workforce answers.
Sell the report
A data product with buyers waiting
License the compiled, anonymized report to site selectors, consultants, and employers who need county-level numbers. Collected once, sold many times, with access controlled in the platform.
Paid participation
A program employers fund
Charge a fee to take part, with the full report as what the fee buys. Participants fund the program, non-participants pay more for the report or go without, and the survey covers its own costs.
Economic Developer FAQs
What wage data do site selectors ask for?
Current-year pay for the occupations their project actually hires: percentiles rather than a single average, benefits costs alongside wages, and shift structure where it applies. The recurring theme is freshness and locality; a number collected this year from your own laborshed answers questions that a two-year-old state aggregate cannot.
How do Economic Developers fund a wage survey?
Three models cover most programs: run it as a free public service, sell the compiled report to businesses and site selectors, or make participation a paid program. Many start free and add a paid tier as the dataset compounds. The “Three ways Economic Developers put the data to work” section above walks through all three.
How is this different from BLS or OEWS data?
Government data is the framework and the sanity check; the platform is built on the same SOC occupation codes BLS uses, so the two line up. But federal data aggregates at the state or metro level, publishes on a lag, and says little about benefits. A county survey covers your actual employers in the current cycle, includes the benefits package, and can be filtered to the slice a decision needs. Most programs use both: federal data for context, the local survey for the numbers decisions ride on.
How is this different from hiring a consultant to run our wage study?
A consultant delivers one report and typically costs $20K–$80K. With Sensible Surveys you own the platform for the year, can rerun the same study annually for direct year-over-year comparison, and your team learns the data over time.
Can we co-brand the report with our EDA?
Yes. Export comes in two PDF versions: branded with the Sensible Surveys logo, or clean for you to add your own. CSV exports are unbranded by default. Many EDAs build a report packet with their own cover and intro and use ours as the data appendix.
How long from signing to launching our first survey?
Most teams launch within 2–3 weeks. With our done-for-you option or planning add-on, we walk the template against your goals and help you import your participant list. The clock really starts when your participant list is ready.
Who owns the data?
You do. Your survey, your responses, your aggregated report. Excel/CSV export any time. We do not resell or share with third parties.
Can we share or sell results to site selectors and local businesses?
Yes. Many EDAs license the report to site selectors, sell it to local employers, or include it in membership packages. See the “Three ways Economic Developers put the data to work” section above for the common models.
Complex surveys to send and don’t know where to start?
Book a 20-minute demo. We’ll show you the system, talk through your goals, and tell you whether we’re a fit. No pressure.