There are a number of sources of cost of living data with different methods and products. They’re useful for research applications and to provide a reference point for wage data. Although cost of living is non-standard and does not have a formal WID table, the content is useful enough to states to index here.
This is an annual calculation that produces annual costs for various components (food, childcare, etc) and a required wage value to cover those costs for 14 family structures. You can find the documentation here.
This is an annual calculation that produces annual costs for various components (food, childcare, etc) and a required wage value to cover those costs for many family structures. You can find the documentation here.
This is an adaptation of a method developed by Minnesota. It has both component costs and an index value but is relatively new. You can find the documentation here and a visualization here.
Table Format
This is non-standard content but has been structured to work seamlessly with the WID.
This is a new data source at the national level. If there’s interest, it will continue to be produced in future years, with updates occurring in January or early February.
Related Tables
The structure of related tables and the SQL are in the same files under Table Format above.
Lookup table contents: AgeCol FamilyChars
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) are crosswalked with SOC occupation codes to analyze educational outcomes, wage premiums, and workforce supply and demand. Job banks use them to match qualifications with job postings and labor market data.
The 2020 download file contains both the content for WID tables occcodes/cipcode and the CIP-SOC crosswalk to be loaded into occxocc.
– The values all use stfips 00, so for state use it may need to be duplicated for the state.
– The crosswalk goes both ways – from SOC to CIP and from CIP to SOC. In this table structure, the “from” is housed in codetype/code and the “to” is in codetype2/code2.
– Not all CIPs have a direct occupational match and not all SOCs have a direct CIP match.
Links to the table description in the current structure document. Note: Page anchors do not work in Microsoft Edge (the default browser for some states).
The WID is a database structure to facilitate communication and data sharing between states. It takes common data products and puts them in a format that 1) saves states the work of coming up with their own and creating the documentation to support and maintain it and 2) allows them to use common terms or formats in communications with other states. For these reasons, maintaining data in the prescribed WID format is funded by an ETA grant. However, there can sometimes be confusion about what parts of the WID are required deliverables.
The WID structure document is 146 pages long and includes structure and value information for more than 200 tables, not all of which have available data in every state or jurisdiction.
Required “core” tables – these are largely those tables for which state LMI offices already have BLS data and are summarized in Appendix C. Only core tables are mandated by the ETA grant.
Non-core tables are included for several possible reasons:
They’re likely to be needed by states, or are used by a significant percentage of states. This includes lookup tables of occupation and industry codes, crosswalks between different coding systems.
The data is readily available and provided in WID format by the ARC – population, demographics, and income, for example. These are subjects that are of interest to many state LMI offices and having them in a consistent format has the potential to reduce state workload.
They’re emerging as an area of interest or are core products of a few states. This might include the programs table (which houses IPEDS data, emerging as an area of interest because of WIOA requirements) or the JVS table, which houses job vacancy data some states collect.
Non-standard tables: ARC documentation and files exists for tables that aren’t in the formal WID structure document but are structured such that they could work seamlessly with it, using the same geographic and time references and relating back to the same lookup tables. These include geogxzip and some tax and GDP files. Some WID non-core tables started as non-standard tables, were found to be useful, and made it into the structure document later on.
