Wave — Market Intelligence

Are you paying enough to hire and retain?

Your competitors are raising pay. Wave pulls five years of federal data and tells you exactly where you stand — and what it will cost to stay competitive.

Wave asks five quick questions, then builds your market intelligence report.
5 questions
~2 minutes
Free report
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What Wave Measures

Five categories. Five years. One clear picture.

01
Housing & Rent Pressure
The primary driver of wage pressure in every market. Wave tracks both ownership cost trends and rental index movement by metro area over five years — the single most important factor in whether your pay is still competitive.
02
New & Used Vehicle Cost Trends
State-level averages from the BLS. Getting to and from work reliably is real wage pressue. We all feel this data point.
03
Fuel & Commute Cost
State-level weekly fuel averages from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Mechanics feel this daily. In rural and field-tech markets, commute cost is often the hidden dealbreaker between a candidate accepting or walking.
04
Grocery & Daily Spend
The emotional trigger. Grocery cost increases are felt at every paycheck. Wave tracks regional CPI food index movement — because candidates making decisions about job offers are doing so against what it costs to fill a cart.
05
Occupation Wage Benchmarks
BLS Occupational Employment Statistics by metro area for each trade role — diesel tech, automotive mechanic, heavy equipment operator, ag mechanic, and more. Updated annually. Compared against your current pay to calculate the real gap.
Sample Output

What a Wave report looks like

Role Metro 5yr Cost Pressure BLS Median Wage Hiring Pressure Score
Diesel Mechanic Dallas–Fort Worth, TX +31% $29.50/hr 58 — Tight
Automotive Mechanic Phoenix, AZ +28% $25.80/hr 49 — Competitive
Heavy Equipment Operator Chicago, IL +—% $—.—/hr — — ———
Ag Mechanic Fresno, CA +—% $—.—/hr — — ———

* Run the tool above to generate a live report for your ZIP code and role. Sample data shown for illustrative purposes.

Coverage

Roles we benchmark

Diesel Mechanic
Automotive Mechanic
Ag Mechanic
Diesel — Trucking