How to find your real market number — before you negotiate
Which public sources to check, how to anchor your ask, and the 30-minute prep sheet that doubles your odds.
Candidates who walk in with a sourced number negotiate from a position. Candidates who walk in asking what do you pay negotiate from a whisper. This method takes 30 minutes of research and leaves you with one defensible target.
The four free sources
| Source | What to take from it |
|---|---|
| Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Payscale | Market ranges by role, city and seniority. Read the 50th-75th percentile, never the headline number. |
| The company's own job postings | In California, New York, Washington, Colorado and other US states, the law requires the pay range in the posting. Use it directly. |
| Your network | Ask 2-3 peers one question: what range would someone with my experience look at where you work? |
| The first recruiter call | Recruiters often volunteer a band early. Treat it as a data point, not a ceiling. |
How to combine sources
Do not average them blindly. Treat your network as the most accurate source, public sites as the sanity check, and the recruiter's band as the ceiling reference. Drop any outlier — if one site says $50k and three others say $85k, the $50k number is stale or wrong-tier, not your new floor. When sources disagree by more than 15%, assume the lower end reflects base-only pay and the higher end includes bonus; ask the recruiter which one you are being quoted.
How to anchor your number
Combine sources into a band: research says $78k-$95k, peers say $85k-$95k. Your ask is the intersection, stated as a range with your target near the top: Based on the market data I have seen for this role in [city], I am targeting $90,000-$98,000. Never state a single low number — it becomes the anchor for the whole conversation. If they counter below your band, answer with the sources, not with disappointment: I understand budgets vary, and the market range I have seen puts this role at $X-$Y.
The 30-minute prep sheet
- Write your target number and the two sources that support it.
- List three achievements that justify the top of the band.
- Map the full package: base, bonus, health, remote policy, learning budget — some bands negotiate beyond base salary.
- Write your walk-away line: the number below which you decline politely.
How it works
- Spend 20 minutes across the four sources and write down every range you find.
- Take the overlap of your sources as your band and set your target near its top.
- Print the prep sheet and bring it to the final conversation — written numbers anchor better than remembered ones.
In an increasing number of US states (California, New York, Washington, Colorado and others), employers must state the pay range in the posting by law. If the company still refuses, walk in with your own sourced range from public data — silence on their side is not a reason to underbid yourself.
Avoid it where the law allows. Answer with your target instead: Based on market data for this role, I am targeting $X to $Y. Several US states already ban employers from asking prior salary; treating it as off-limits everywhere is the safest default.
Chinese market data is thinner and more private. Use two anchors instead of public sites: ask 2-3 peers in similar companies for a band, and read the ranges posted on local recruitment platforms. Always adjust for city tier — Shanghai and Guiyang bands differ by 30-50%.
Yes. Stating a single low number anchors the whole negotiation at your floor. A range signals you are informed, and its bottom should be slightly above your minimum acceptable number so the negotiation still lands where you want.
Let them bring it up first. If you are asked early, give your sourced range rather than your expectation. Negotiate the real number only after they have made you an offer and you have said yes to the role itself.
Who this tool is for
This page is for anyone who has to say a number out loud before they know what the market pays: a candidate holding a first offer, an employee heading into a raise conversation, someone relocating to a different city, or a person who keeps getting asked "what are your salary expectations?" and keeps improvising an answer.
It is also for the moment before an internal promotion is priced, when the band is decided by people you will never meet. The method works because it replaces a feeling with a written band, and because that band can survive a second look the next morning.
How to read your result
The output here is not one number; it is a band plus a target inside it. Public sites are read at the 50th to 75th percentile rather than the headline average, because a headline often describes a different seniority or a different city. A company's own posting is the cleanest anchor where pay-transparency rules apply. Your network is the sanity check on whether the published band reflects the work you actually do, and a recruiter's early figure is a data point rather than a ceiling.
When sources disagree, drop outliers instead of averaging them. A useful guardrail is the 15% rule: if the spread between the lowest and highest source is wider than about 15%, assume the low end is base-only and the high end includes bonus or equity, then ask which basis you are being quoted. The range you say out loud should have a floor slightly above the minimum you would accept, so a normal negotiation still lands where you want it.
Two smaller habits carry more weight than any single source. Write the date next to every figure you collect, because a band saved from a hiring boom and reused two years later is memory rather than research. And separate cash from promises: a signing bonus that must be repaid if you leave within a year is not base salary, and an equity grant is not a number until you know the vesting schedule and the current valuation.
A worked example
A product role in one city returns four inputs. The company's posting says $82,000 to $104,000. A public site shows a 50th percentile of $86,000 and a 75th of $101,000, a spread of roughly 17%, so the base-versus-bonus question goes on the list for the recruiter. Two peers describe $90,000 to $102,000, and the recruiter volunteers $85,000 to $95,000.
The overlap of all four is $90,000 to $95,000. That is the band. The target sits near the top at $94,000, the spoken range becomes $94,000 to $98,000, and the walk-away is $87,000. Notice what did not happen: no averaging, no single headline number, and no figure pulled from a personal budget.
Common mistakes
- Averaging every source. One stale listing can drag a good band down by a whole tier.
- Comparing base salary with total compensation, then wondering why the numbers refuse to meet.
- Treating the recruiter's first band as the ceiling; it is often the floor of what the budget allows.
- Opening with a single low number, which anchors the whole conversation at your minimum.
- Using your current salary as the anchor when the role, city or scope has changed.
Salary data is an estimate and general information, not legal or financial advice. Pay-transparency rules, market data and city premiums differ by country, state and city, and they change. For an offer, a contract clause or a relocation decision that matters, confirm the numbers with local official guidance, a qualified adviser or your local labor authority.
Sources and further reading
Pay ranges and occupational data referenced here come from the official statistical sources below. Benchmarks are averages, not offers — local and industry data will differ.