Methodology: How FiyatList Sources and Updates Prices
Updated
This page explains where the numbers on FiyatList come from, how we keep them current, and what their limits are. If a page on the site doesn’t match what’s described here, treat that as an error and let us know.
Data and text are kept separate
Each price and wage on FiyatList is stored in a data record, and pages read their figures from those records. A record holds the value, a low and high end where there is a range, the unit, the geography (national, state, metro, or county), the source name and link, the date we retrieved it, and how it was collected.
When a number changes, it changes on every page that uses it, so the same price can’t show two different values in two places. And the date shown on a page comes from the data, not from the last time someone edited a sentence.
Our main sources
We prefer primary public data over secondary reporting. These are the sources behind the automated parts of the site:
| Topic | Source |
|---|---|
| Wages by occupation, state, and metro | Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) |
| College cost and net price | U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard |
| Household income, rent, and home values | Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) |
| Residential electricity prices | U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) |
| Postage | USPS published prices (Notice 123) |
For prices a company sets, the source is the company’s own pricing page or its official announcement. For costs that have no official list price, such as a roof repair or a dental crown, we use published cost guides and pricing surveys, and each one is named and linked on the page.
How figures stay current
Not every price can be updated the same way. We use three methods, and each record is tagged with the one that applies.
1. Imports from official data
Wages, college costs, and cost-of-living figures come straight from government data files and APIs. When an agency publishes a new release, we import it, the records update, and every page that uses them changes with them.
Release schedules differ by source. BLS publishes new OEWS wage estimates once a year, in the spring. The Census Bureau releases ACS estimates yearly, and EIA publishes electricity prices monthly.
2. Company prices checked against the official page
Subscriptions, postage, new-vehicle prices, tickets, and government fees are set by a company or an agency, and they can change without notice. We take these figures from the official price page or announcement and record the date we checked it.
Each record also gets a review date based on how often that kind of price tends to move. A streaming plan is rechecked more often than a passport fee. When a price has changed, we replace the figure and keep the old one in the record’s history.
3. Costs compiled from published estimates
Home improvement, auto repair, pet care, legal fees, and similar services have no single official price. For these we collect figures from several published cost guides and pricing surveys, record each source and its date, and show them side by side, usually in a table of estimates by source. When sources disagree, we show the spread instead of picking one.
We drop figures that are older than about a year (original list prices and official fee tables are the exceptions), figures that contradict themselves, and sources that don’t say where their numbers come from. A page needs enough figures that check out against their sources before it is published.
What the “Updated” date means
The “Updated” date on a page is the date a figure on that page last changed. Fixing a typo, redesigning the page, or re-saving the article does not move it.
If we check a price and it hasn’t changed, the “Updated” date stays the same. Each data point also carries its own source and retrieval date, so a page can combine a wage from this year’s BLS release with a price we checked a few months earlier.
How we calculate ranges
Most costs on FiyatList are shown as a range, because one number would hide real variation by location, provider, and job size.
- For wages, we report the BLS percentile wages (10th, 25th, median, 75th, and 90th percentiles) and label which percentiles a range covers. A percentile is not an experience level.
- For service and project costs, the range comes from the sources. Where a source publishes a low and high figure, we show it as published. Where several sources give different figures, we list each one and explain what tends to drive the difference, such as materials, job size, region, and whether labor is included.
- For company prices, we show the price as the company publishes it. Where a company has several plans or trims, we list each one.
We don’t average a wide spread into a single “typical” figure when that number would mislead. Where the gap is large, we list the factors that drive it.
Limits of BLS wage data
OEWS is the most complete public source of US wages by occupation and location, but it has limits you should know about:
- It covers wage and salary workers only. Self-employed people, owners, and partners in unincorporated businesses are not included, which matters for trades and creative work where many people are self-employed.
- It does not break wages down by experience, education, or employer size. The 10th percentile is not “entry level” and the 90th percentile is not “senior,” even though they often line up roughly.
- Wages at the top are capped in the published data. BLS reports wages of $239,200 a year or more ($115.00 an hour or more) only as “at or above” that amount. When you see that flag on a FiyatList page, the true figure may be higher.
- Estimates combine survey responses collected over three years, so a fast-moving pay market can lag behind.
- Base wages exclude overtime pay, most bonuses, and benefits.
When data gets too old
Each data record has a review date. Records past that date show up on an internal freshness report so we can recheck them.
If a page is missing its core data, or its core data was retrieved more than 18 months ago, the page is automatically marked noindex. Search engines are told not to list it until the data is refreshed. The page stays available to anyone who has the link, but we don’t want search results pointing people to a number we can no longer stand behind.
Reporting an error
If a price is wrong, out of date, or doesn’t match its source, email [email protected]. Include the page URL, the figure in question, and a link to a current source if you have one. A correction that changes a figure also moves the page’s “Updated” date. Our editorial policy covers how we handle corrections.