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PlotFuture / How it works

How it works

Every figure on this site is computed from public U.S. government data. Here's exactly how — so you can judge the method yourself.

The data we build on

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
OEWS wage data — median and full salary distributions by occupation and metro; Employment Projections for 10-year demand growth.
O*NET (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
Skills, day-to-day tasks, and work context for every occupation — the basis for our skill-distance and 'what the job actually does' data.
College Scorecard (U.S. Dept. of Education)
Real graduate earnings, typical debt, and net cost by program — the foundation of every ROI figure.
IPEDS (U.S. Dept. of Education)
Admission rates, SAT/ACT score ranges, and institution details for 6,000+ colleges.
DOL / USCIS visa filings (LCA, Data Hub)
H-1B application volume, prevailing wages, and sponsoring employers by occupation.

How we join it

The key move is linking these sources through official crosswalks. Majors (CIP codes) map to careers (SOC codes) through the U.S. Dept. of Education crosswalk; careers then carry their own salary, skills, AI exposure and demand data. That linking is what lets us answer a question like "what does this major actually lead to, and is it worth it?" in one place.

Salary

We show the full filed-salary distribution (10th to 90th percentile) from BLS, not just one average — because the spread is the real story. City-level figures are anchored to local rent so you see real buying power, not just the headline number.

AI exposure

We combine task-level automation potential (from O*NET task data) with signals of real-world adoption. We report it as a structural pattern for the occupation — not a prediction about any individual.

ROI

Worth-it figures come from College Scorecard: real graduate earnings against typical debt, with payback time and debt-to-income ratio. We show both sticker and net cost where available.

Career pivots

"Escape routes" are computed from the O*NET skill graph: occupations close in skills to yours, weighted toward ones that are safer from AI and don't cost you pay. The skill gap is the real distance, not a guess.

What we don't do

We don't predict whether you personally will get into a school, get a job, or get a visa. We state historical facts and group-level trends, and we flag uncertainty. Decisions about your money, education, career and immigration are yours — this is information, not advice.

PlotFuture · built on public U.S. government data