# Compare GSA labor rates for a labor category

To compare GSA labor rates with an AI agent, ask it to call labor_rates with the category and stats=true. It returns how many awarded GSA schedule rates match, with the minimum, 25th percentile, median, 75th percentile and maximum hourly ceiling rate. A second call without stats lists individual rates filtered by education and years of experience.

Pricing analysts and proposal managers pricing a GSA schedule offer or a task order. Ceiling rates other contractors were awarded are the reference a contracting officer uses when deciding whether your rate is fair and reasonable; knowing where you sit in that distribution before you submit saves a negotiation round.

## The prompt

```
What do GSA schedule contracts pay for a software engineer? Give me the count, quartiles and range, then list ten rates for people with a bachelor's degree and at least 5 years of experience.
```

## What the agent calls

1. labor_rates: Summary statistics across every matching awarded rate.

```json
{"name":"labor_rates","arguments":{"q":"software engineer","stats":true,"user_request":"software engineer rate spread"}}
```

2. labor_rates: Individual rates with vendor, schedule, education and experience for the comparison table.

```json
{"name":"labor_rates","arguments":{"q":"software engineer","education":"Bachelors","min_years":5,"limit":10,"user_request":"software engineer rates bachelors 5 years"}}
```

## Sample output

Trimmed; field names and structure match the live response, values are shortened or illustrative.

```json
{
  "data": {
    "category": "software engineer",
    "n": 4541,
    "min": 29.27,
    "p25": 110.14,
    "median": 140.09,
    "p75": 173.64,
    "max": 465.6
  },
  "meta": {
    "as_of": "2026-11-12"
  }
}
```

## How to read the answer

- These are ceiling rates awarded on GSA schedules, the most a contractor may charge for the category; task order prices are often lower.
- Labor category titles vary by vendor. Search the words buyers use (software engineer, systems administrator) and check that the titles in the row list really match the role.
- The median and quartiles are more useful than the extremes, which often reflect unusual roles or senior specialists under a broad title.

## Make it yours

- Compare two categories in one prompt, such as program manager and project manager.
- Ask for the same category on a specific schedule name.

## Pitfalls

- Do not compare rates across very different experience levels. Filter by min_years and education before drawing conclusions.
- Rates include escalation by contract year on the source data; the agent should state that values are as published in the dataset dated in meta.as_of.

## The same job over REST

```bash
curl "https://samgovapi.io/api/v1/labor-rates/stats?q=software%20engineer" -H "Authorization: Bearer $SAMGOVAPI_API_KEY"
```

Plan: every plan. Credits: 1 credit per lookup for stats; 1 credit per 100 rows returned, minimum 1 for rows.

## Questions

### Where do the labor rates come from?

From GSA's public pricing data for awarded schedule labor categories (buy.gsa.gov/pricing), loaded with its dataset date.

### Are these the rates agencies actually paid?

They are awarded ceiling rates. Agencies can and often do negotiate lower rates on individual task orders.

All recipes: https://samgovapi.io/agents/recipes.md

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