Editorial policy

How we get the numbers right

Honest Figures exists to show its working. These are the standards behind every figure on the site.

Primary sources only

Figures come from the body that sets them: the IRS for federal tax brackets and the standard deduction, the Social Security Administration for payroll tax rates and the wage base, the Bureau of Labor Statistics for inflation, and Freddie Mac for mortgage rates. We do not copy numbers from other sites. Each figure links to the source that produced it.

Everything is dated

Tax and rate figures change. The methodology page records each figure and the date it was last checked, and every guide shows when it was last updated. Where a number is an estimate or a simplification, we label it at the point of use rather than presenting it as exact.

Who writes and checks the content

The calculators, guides, and reference pages are produced by RavenLabs. Calculations are built from a stated formula and tested against worked examples. We use software tools in our research and drafting, and every published figure is checked against its primary source before it goes live. We do not publish a number we cannot trace.

Independent of advertising

Advertising pays for the site but does not shape it. No advertiser can change a figure, a recommendation, or the order of information, and content is never written to favour an advertiser. Ad space is kept visually separate from the content.

Corrections

If a figure is wrong, we want to fix it. Report it at hello@honestfigures.com with the page and the number in question. We check it against the source, correct the page, and update the last-checked date so the change is visible.

Honest Figures publishes general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Last reviewed 2026-07-16.