WageHound aggregates official prevailing wage data from government sources into a searchable, comparable format. Understanding where that data comes from — and its limitations — is essential for using it correctly in compliance and estimating work.
All wage rates in WageHound originate from two authoritative government publications:
The NYC Comptroller's Bureau of Labor Law publishes the prevailing wage schedule for public work projects in New York City. This is the authoritative source for all Article 8 rates — every trade, classification, and benefit entry in the WageHound Comptroller tab is drawn from this schedule.
Rates are typically updated annually on July 1 to reflect the new CBA rates negotiated by each trade union for the fiscal year. The Comptroller publishes both a “General” and a “Residential” schedule; WageHound tracks both where applicable.
The New York State Department of Labor publishes wage schedules for building service employees and certain publicly assisted construction projects under Article 9 of the Labor Law.
Article 9 rates cover a different set of occupational categories than Article 8 and are updated on a schedule determined by NYSDOL rather than the fixed July 1 cycle. WageHound cross-references these rates against the Comptroller data in the side-by-side comparison tab.
Each rate record in WageHound carries a Verified flag. Here is what that means and what it does not mean:
The rate has been cross-referenced against the published government source schedule and the values (base wage, each benefit category, effective date) have been confirmed to match. The source URL is linked directly from the rate record so you can verify independently.
The rate has been entered into the database but has not yet been cross-checked against the source document. This may occur when a rate is newly added following a July 1 update, or when a new union is added to the registry. Unverified rates should be independently confirmed before use in formal compliance submissions.
For each rate record, WageHound stores:
WageHound retains all historical rate records — when a new rate takes effect on July 1, the prior rate is not deleted. This enables the Analytics dashboard to show year-over-year trend data. The Prevailing Wage page, however, displays only the most recent rate per classification to keep the schedule view current and uncluttered.
WageHound is a research and reference tool, not a legal compliance certification. Rates in WageHound should be used for estimation, analysis, and internal compliance review. For any formal prevailing wage determination — including legal proceedings, official contract submissions, or regulatory filings — always use the current schedule published directly by the NYC Comptroller or NYSDOL.
WageHound data may lag official schedules by up to 30 days following a July 1 update. Always check the effective date on each rate record before using it in time-sensitive compliance work.
WageHound does not guarantee completeness of coverage — not every NYC union local or specialty classification may be in the database. If a trade or classification is missing, use the official government sources directly.