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I guess it depends on how much inflation is typical. What alternative do we have? It's not like companies are going to release this information to the public, and if they do, there's nothing to show that they're not going to be doing a little bit of inflation on their own. Personally, I think something like this is reasonably reliable. No one should expect to get an exact match, as salary comes down to a lot of variable factors, including individual negotiation skills, but most companies do try to keep things within a reasonable ballpark.

And fwiw, I put in a salary about 5k below what I actually make.

I wonder how reliable that is. It would be in HR's interest to have everyone believe that self-reported salary information is untrue and can't be counted on.

Is there a study that shows that to be true? Can you point to any industry resources? Thanks!

It's self reported data in general, not specific to this case:

http://www.sciencebrainwaves.com/the-dangers-of-self-report/