Methodology.

Data sources

The Remote Workforce Cost Index draws from the following public databases for salary and compensation data. Each source is cited inline with the figure it supports, including accessed date and URL.

• Glassdoor India (glassdoor.co.in) — Salary reported by Indian employees and workers. Used for base salary ranges by role and metro.
• Glassdoor Philippines (glassdoor.com) — Salary reported by Philippine employees. Used for base salary ranges by role in Manila and Cebu contexts.
• Payscale India (payscale.com) — Reported compensation data for India. Used for cross-reference and percentile validation.
• Payscale Philippines — Same platform, Philippine data. Used for cross-reference on operations and design roles.
• Indeed India (in.indeed.com) — Salary estimates and job posting data for India. Used for specialized roles (CAD drafter, medical billing).
• Indeed Philippines (ph.indeed.com) — Salary estimates for the Philippines.
• Arc.dev (arc.dev) — Remote developer salary data by country. Primary source for the US employer remote series: what US-based employers pay remote workers in India and the Philippines.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024 (bls.gov/oes) — National occupational median wages for the United States, published annually. Used as the US domestic benchmark for offshore discount percentage calculations, and as the basis for BLS-estimated US employer remote figures where Arc.dev direct data is unavailable.
• Second Talent (secondtalent.com) — Developer and DevOps rate card data for the Philippines.
• SalaryExpert / ERI (erieri.com) — Country-level compensation data used for specialized roles.
• Levels.fyi (levels.fyi) — Total compensation data for technology roles. Used for senior-level cross-reference.

Statutory contribution rates are sourced directly from government agencies: the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (epfindia.gov.in) and the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (esic.gov.in) for India; the Social Security System, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG for the Philippines.

Exchange rates are recorded at the mid-market spot rate on the date of data collection, sourced from Exchange-Rates.org and PhilNews. A single rate is applied consistently across all roles in a given publication cycle to keep cross-role comparisons coherent.

Collection method

Data is collected manually by aggregating reported figures from multiple public databases for each role and market. Where sources report different ranges, the median of reported medians is used for the central figure, and the 30th–70th percentile spread is estimated from the aggregate distribution. No proprietary employer data is used in v1.x. Sources are cited at the table-footnote level with accessed month and year.

Beginning with v1.2 (May 2026), salary data for each role is reported under two market contexts: a local employer series (Glassdoor/Payscale/Indeed — what Indian or Philippine companies pay) and a US employer remote series (Arc.dev or BLS OES offshore-discount estimate — what US-based employers pay for the same role performed remotely). These series are not interchangeable and are displayed in separate columns on each salary page.

Offshore discount methodology

Definition

The offshore discount percentage expresses the US employer remote median salary as a fraction of the BLS OES May 2024 US domestic median for the same occupational category. A role with an offshore discount of 35% pays 35 cents on the US dollar. The formula is:

offshore % = (US employer remote median) ÷ (BLS OES US domestic monthly median) × 100

US baseline — BLS OES May 2024

The US domestic benchmark is the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 national median annual wage for the nearest SOC occupational code, divided by 12 to derive a monthly figure. The OEWS survey covers approximately 1.1 million employer establishments and is the standard labor market reference in US workforce analyses. BLS OEWS data is published annually, typically in April or May of the following year; May 2024 data (published May 2025) is the most recent release as of May 2026. Annual median wages are converted to monthly by dividing by 12.

US employer remote sources

Arc.dev is the primary source for the US employer remote series. Arc.dev publishes country-specific remote salary data for technical roles, sourced from its network of US-based employers that hire internationally. Where Arc.dev publishes a range, the midpoint of the reported range is used as the median figure. Arc.dev data is available for most technical roles; for roles without direct Arc.dev coverage (UI/UX Designer, Product Manager, Project Manager, Customer Support Specialist, Medical Billing Specialist, CAD Drafter, and AI/ML Engineer), figures are estimated from BLS OES May 2024 using the offshore discount bands described below.

Validation bands

Observed Arc.dev data for India and Philippines, combined with secondary sources (Second Talent, SalaryExpert, Levels.fyi), produces the following expected offshore discount bands by experience tier and market. These bands are used to validate Arc.dev figures and to calibrate BLS-estimated figures for roles without direct Arc.dev data.

"Specialized" roles are those in Section C (Medical Billing, CAD Drafter) and technically specialized roles (DevOps, AI/ML) where a scarcity premium applies. These bands are derived from observed Arc.dev data across covered roles and are consistent with published analyses by remote hiring platforms as of early 2026.

Outlier flagging

Roles where the reported or estimated US employer remote median falls outside the expected band for its market and tier are flagged with a dagger (†) in the salary tables. As of May 2026, three roles are flagged:

• India — QA Engineer: Arc.dev reports $2,039/month (24% of BLS OES May 2024 median for Software Quality Assurance Analysts, SOC 15-1253, $8,551/month). This falls below the India mid-level floor of 30%. Arc.dev figure is reported as collected. Automation QA specialists may command rates toward the band floor.
• Philippines — Senior Software Engineer: Arc.dev reports $6,022/month (54% of BLS OES May 2024 median for Software Developers, SOC 15-1252, $11,090/month). This exceeds the Philippines senior-level ceiling of 40%. The Philippines senior SWE market reflects a premium for cloud-architecture specialization and long tenure with US product companies. Treat with caution.
• Philippines — DevOps Engineer: Arc.dev reports $1,915/month (24% of BLS OES May 2024 median for Network and Computer Systems Administrators, SOC 15-1244, $8,067/month). This falls partly below the Philippines mid-level floor of 25%. The Philippine DevOps market shows high variance; Kubernetes/Terraform specialists may command rates above this range.

Outlier figures are reported as collected and are not adjusted. The dagger notation and footnote detail allow readers to make their own judgment about the applicability of the figure to their context.

Update cadence

Salary data is reviewed quarterly, with at minimum one full data refresh per calendar year. Statutory contribution rates are reviewed whenever the relevant government agency announces a rate change; updates are applied within 30 days of the announcement. Each update is logged in the change log at the bottom of this page.

Data older than 18 months without a refresh is flagged at the section level with a visible "refresh-needed" indicator. No flagged data ships without acknowledgment.

Currency handling and exchange rate policy

All figures are displayed in USD as the primary currency, with native currency equivalents (INR or PHP) in parentheses. The exchange rate applied in each publication cycle is recorded in the data files (data/exchange-rates.json) with the source and date. In May 2026, the applied rates were 1 USD = 96.28 INR (May 16, 2026; source: Exchange-Rates.org) and 1 USD = 61.61 PHP (May 17, 2026; source: PhilNews).

Sample size handling and flagging

Most public salary databases do not publish role-level sample sizes for India and Philippines markets. Where sample sizes are available, they are reported in the source column. Where not available, the source column notes "N/A — aggregated across multiple sources." Ranges with an aggregated base of fewer than 30 reported salaries are treated as directional rather than definitive and are noted accordingly.

Limitations

The following limitations apply to all data on this site:

• Self-report bias. Glassdoor, Payscale, and Indeed data is user-submitted. Respondents may over-report at higher salary levels, and the sample skews toward users who seek salary benchmarking tools (often those considering a job change).
• Metro skew. Most reported data concentrates on Tier-1 cities (Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai for India; Manila and Cebu for Philippines). Tier-2 and Tier-3 city rates are typically 15–35% lower.
• Sample-size variance. Specialized roles (CAD drafter, medical billing) have smaller reported samples than software engineering roles. Treat those ranges as directional.
• Dual-market distinction. Beginning with v1.2 (May 2026), salary pages display two series: local employer rates and US employer remote rates. These are distinct markets with different pay levels; the columns are not interchangeable. US employer remote figures sourced from BLS OES offshore-discount estimation (rather than Arc.dev direct data) carry additional uncertainty and are marked as directional.
• Base salary only. Salary pages cover base monthly compensation only. Equity, variable bonuses, and benefits are excluded unless noted. Total-cost pages include statutory contributions and overhead but not optional benefits such as private health insurance.
• Public-data ceiling.v1 data relies entirely on public sources. Proprietary placement data from the editor's managed workforce company is planned as a separately labeled section for Q2 2026 and will be clearly distinguished from public-source data.

Editorial independence

The Remote Workforce Cost Index is edited by Joel Deutsch, founder of F5 Hiring Solutions. This relationship is disclosed on the Aboutpage and in the structured data for this publication. The Cost Index operates under independent editorial standards: no commercial pricing appears on these pages, no calls to action reference any provider's services, and data collection is not filtered by commercial interest. Factual corrections should be sent to editor@remoteworkforcecostindex.com.

Future updates

• Q2 2026. F5 Hiring Solutions proprietary placement data as a separately labeled section, with its own methodology note. Total-cost calculator widget.
• Q3 2026. Latin America expansion (Colombia, Mexico, Argentina). Eastern Europe expansion (Poland, Romania, Ukraine). Multi-byline contributors begin.
• Q4 2026. Role-level analyses. Newsletter signup if editorial cadence supports it.

Change log

May 2026 — v1.2 Data Calibration

Dual-market data structure added. All 15 roles for India and Philippines now report two separate salary series: local employer (Glassdoor/Payscale/Indeed) and US employer remote (Arc.dev / BLS OES May 2024 offshore-discount estimate). Arc.dev data moved exclusively to the US employer remote series; local employer series now contains only Glassdoor/Payscale/Indeed sources. Offshore discount percentage column added to salary tables. Three outlier roles flagged (India QA Engineer at 24%, Philippines Senior SWE at 54%, Philippines DevOps at 24%). Total-cost pages updated with dual-scenario comparison table (local base vs. US remote base, same statutory rates). Offshore discount methodology section added. BLS OES added to data sources.

May 2026 — v1 Launch

Initial publication. 15 roles for India and Philippines. Base salary ranges (30th–70th percentile, USD and native currency) and fully loaded employer cost tables. Exchange rates: 1 USD = 96.28 INR, 1 USD = 61.61 PHP. Sources: Glassdoor, Payscale, Indeed, Arc.dev, Second Talent, SalaryExpert, Levels.fyi, EPFO, ESIC, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG.