How to read a salary range in a job posting

Base pay is not total pay

A posted range is usually base pay: the salary or hourly wage before bonuses, commissions, tips, overtime, equity and benefits. New York’s labor department says a pay range cannot include other forms of compensation or benefits such as employer-provided insurance, paid leave or retirement savings,¹ and California’s says other compensation need not be posted at all.²

Benefits are a large part of what employers spend on staff. In Bureau of Labor Statistics data for June 2026, wages and salaries were 70.0 percent of private employers’ compensation costs and benefit costs were the other 30.0 percent.³ That is an average across private employers, not a forecast for one job, but it shows why offers with the same base pay can differ in value.

When a posting mentions a bonus, commission or equity, ask whether the figure is a target, a typical result or a maximum.

What a range does and does not tell you

Where a pay range law applies, Washington’s labor department says the range should give the applicant “the employer’s most reasonable and genuinely expected range of compensation for the job,”⁴ and California defines the pay scale as “a good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range that an employer reasonably expects to pay for a position upon hire.”²

A range is still not an offer. Colorado’s labor division says an employer may pay more or less than the range it posted, as long as the range was what it honestly believed it would pay at the time,⁵ and Vermont’s law likewise allows hiring for more or less than the range.⁶ Colorado and Illinois both say pay within a range can depend on qualifications and employer finances.⁵⁷ We found no reliable public figure for where offers typically fall in a range, so be wary of claims like “most offers land at the midpoint.”

Check three more things. Location: if pay varies by state, Colorado and Illinois say the range should be what the employer would pay in that state.⁵⁷ Level: New York says a posting covering several levels of seniority must list a range for each.¹ Market: the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage estimates for about 830 occupations by state and metro area, which you can compare with the posting.⁸

Hourly pay and annual pay

Postings quote pay by the hour or the year. To compare them, convert to one unit. A common shortcut is 2,080 hours a year, which is 40 hours a week for 52 weeks.⁹ At that convention, $31.25 an hour is $65,000 a year.

Treat 2,080 as a convention, not a fact about your job. The federal government divides annual pay by 2,087 hours, an average over a 28-year calendar cycle,⁹ and your own year depends on unpaid time off, schedule and overtime. Unless exempt, employees covered by federal overtime rules must be paid at least time and one-half their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek,¹⁰ so hourly work with regular overtime can pay more than the straight conversion. Some salaried roles are exempt, so ask.

Vague wording and very wide ranges

Phrases such as “competitive” or “commensurate with experience” name no number. Where a pay range law applies, that wording can fall short. Illinois’s labor department says a phrase like “pay starts at $50,000 depending on experience” is too vague to tell an applicant what the pay would be.⁷ New York’s labor department adds that a pay range cannot be open-ended and “$20+ an hour” is not allowed.¹

That is one city, one platform and a two-month window, so it is a rough guide, not a rule, but it suggests very wide ranges are unusual. The same report found the widest ranges appeared to be mostly in performance- or commission-based roles, where some employers may include estimated commissions or bonuses in the listed pay.¹¹

Regulators push the other way. Colorado’s labor division says an employer cannot post the same $30,000 to $100,000 range for a janitor and an accountant unless it really expects to offer accountants the low end and janitors the high end.⁵ Illinois says an extremely broad range may raise compliance questions,⁷ and Virginia’s law says a good-faith review of a range must consider its breadth.¹² When you see a wide range, ask which part matches the level and duties in the posting, and whether it includes commission or bonus.

Negotiating when there is a range

A posted range gives you something to anchor on. CareerOneStop, a site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, advises basing your requests on the value you would bring, and says “in many cases, the first offer has negotiating room.” It adds that in some sectors salaries are firmly established, but you can always ask whether an offer is flexible.¹³

Know your rights before the conversation. In California an employer must give an applicant the pay scale on reasonable request,² and in Massachusetts an employer with 25 or more employees must give an applicant the pay range on request.¹⁴ California generally bars asking about your salary history,² and Virginia bars asking and bars retaliating against a candidate for requesting a range.¹²

Compare the whole package, not only base pay. CareerOneStop notes that some benefits may be worth more to you than a higher salary, and suggests asking for at least 24 hours to decide and for the final offer in writing.¹³

Where the law requires a pay range, as of October 6, 2026

The table lists the places we confirmed on an official government page on October 6, 2026, by the date each rule took effect. Laws change and details vary, so check the linked source or your state labor department before relying on it. This is general information, not legal advice. Other states and cities have rules we did not confirm.

Many of these rules reach remote jobs. California’s labor agency reads its rule to cover any job that may be filled in California, in person or remotely,² and Colorado and Washington say a remote posting is covered even if it says residents of the state will not be considered.⁵⁴ Our guide to telling whether a job is really remote covers how to read those postings.