Salary Transparency: Pay Transparency Laws by State, Salary Range Laws, and How to Use the Posted Range
A posted salary range is the one moment an employer states its budget before you have to name a number. Most candidates read it, feel reassured, and then ask for the middle of it.
Coaching, not legal or financial advice.
What are you negotiating?
Your offer or current pay
Market-rate band
Talking points
Email template
Timing
Coaching, not legal or financial advice.
Direct answer
Salary transparency laws require employers to disclose what a job pays. Thirteen US jurisdictions now require a good faith pay range inside the job posting itself: California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington. Connecticut, Nevada and Rhode Island require the range on request or before an offer, and the Connecticut posting requirement is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2026. Delaware joins on September 26, 2027. Separately, 17 states and the District of Columbia bar employers from asking what you currently earn. There is no federal pay transparency law. For a candidate the practical point is short: a posted range is a published admission of budget, the top of it is negotiable, and nothing in any of these statutes caps what an employer is allowed to pay you. This is career coaching, not legal advice.
▲ run the numbers
Turn the posted range into the number you are going to ask for.
A published band is only useful once you have decided where in it you belong. Enter what you earn now and the increase the posted range would represent, and the calculator returns the exact figure, hourly or annual, along with a read on whether that jump is ordinary or ambitious for the current US market. Work from the top of the band rather than the middle, because the number you name first sets the ceiling on everything that follows. Nothing you enter is uploaded or stored.
pay raise calculator
New pay
An increase of a year, or .
- Per biweekly paycheck
- Per month
- Per hour
- Roughly, after withholding
Benchmarks: 2026 US average merit increase %, CPI inflation % for the 12 months ending July 2026. The after-withholding line is a rough 28% estimate, not a tax calculation.
The problem
The posting says 95,000 to 130,000. You ask for 110,000 because it feels reasonable, the recruiter agrees within the hour, and you spend two years wondering what would have happened at 128,000. The law made the employer publish the number. Nothing in it told you that the top of the band was where your negotiation was supposed to start.
How Counteroffer handles it
Paste the posted range together with the title, level and metro area. Counteroffer works out where in that band someone with your experience should land, flags whether the range is a genuine good faith band or a compliance spread too wide to carry information, and writes the reply that asks for the top of it. It prepares your counter; it does not send it, and it is career coaching rather than legal advice.
▲ the numbers
Where you are entitled to see the pay range, and what triggers it.
Almost every version of this table online is written for an HR team deciding how to stay compliant. This one is written for the person reading the posting. Two things matter to you that the compliance guides bury: the employer headcount that switches the obligation on, because a 12 person startup in California owes you nothing, and whether the range has to appear in the posting or only arrives if you ask. Find your state, check the headcount, and if the range is missing from a posting that should carry one, that absence is itself information.
| State or district | Employers covered | What you are entitled to see | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 15 or more employees | The pay scale in the posting, and on request for your own current role | In effect |
| Colorado | Any employer with a Colorado employee | The pay range plus a general description of benefits in every posting | In effect |
| District of Columbia | Any employer with a DC employee | The minimum and maximum projected salary in the posting | In effect |
| Hawaii | 50 or more employees | An hourly rate or salary range in the posting | In effect |
| Illinois | 15 or more employees | The pay scale and benefits in the posting | In effect |
| Maine | 10 or more employees | The prospective pay range in the posting, and the range for your own role on request | In effect since July 2026 |
| Maryland | Any employer | The wage range and a benefits statement in the posting | In effect |
| Massachusetts | 25 or more employees | The pay range in the posting | In effect |
| Minnesota | 30 or more employees | A starting salary range and a benefits description in the posting | In effect |
| New Jersey | 10 or more employees | The hourly wage or salary range and benefits in the posting | In effect |
| New York | 4 or more employees | The compensation range in the posting | In effect |
| Vermont | 5 or more employees | The compensation range in the posting | In effect |
| Washington | 15 or more employees | The wage scale or salary range and benefits in the posting | In effect |
| Connecticut | Any employer | The range on request, and before an offer is made | In effect. A posting requirement is scheduled for October 1, 2026 |
| Nevada | Any employer | The range automatically, after an interview, without having to ask | In effect |
| Rhode Island | Any employer | The range on request, and before any discussion of pay | In effect |
| Delaware | Larger employers, with sources differing on the exact headcount | A good faith pay range in the posting | From September 26, 2027 |
Thirteen jurisdictions require the range in the posting itself; Connecticut, Nevada and Rhode Island currently work on a request or pre-offer basis. Published effective dates for a few of these laws differ between trackers, so the status column reports whether the obligation applies now rather than repeating a date we could not confirm from two sources. Many cities and counties impose their own rules on top, and this table covers state and district law only. Check your own posting against the law of the state where the work will be performed, which for a remote role is usually where you sit rather than where the company is headquartered.
the stat everyone quotes
"The posted range is the ceiling. Asking for more than the top of it is pointless."
False, and it is the single most expensive misreading of these laws. Not one US pay transparency statute limits what an employer may pay. They govern disclosure, not compensation.
Read what the obligation actually is. Every one of these laws requires the employer to publish a good faith estimate of what it expects to pay for the role. That is a forecast made before anyone applied, written by a compensation team that had not met you. Nothing in any of these statutes says the employer may not exceed it, and employers routinely do exceed it when a candidate turns out to be stronger than the role was scoped for. The range constrains what the company must tell you. It does not constrain what it is allowed to offer.
The good faith standard cuts in your favor in a second way. A range has to be a genuine expectation, which is why a posting advertising 60,000 to 220,000 is a compliance problem rather than useful information. When you see a band that wide, treat it as a signal that the level is undefined and ask which part of it corresponds to the scope being described. That question alone often produces a much narrower and more honest number, and it makes you sound like someone who has done this before.
The behavioral evidence is the part worth acting on. Fidelity found in 2022 that 58 percent of young professionals accepted their first offer without countering, while 85 percent of those who did counter on salary or benefits received at least part of what they asked for. A published range removes the usual excuse for not countering, which was never knowing whether your number was absurd. The band tells you it is not. Ask at or slightly above the top, give one reason tied to scope, and let them come back.
▲ how to do it
How to use a posted salary range in an actual negotiation.
Check whether the employer owed you a range at all
Before you draw conclusions from a missing number, check the two triggers: the state where the work will be performed, and the employer headcount. Hawaii only reaches employers with 50 or more employees, Minnesota 30, Massachusetts 25, California, Illinois and Washington 15, New Jersey and Maine 10, Vermont 5, New York 4, while Colorado, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Nevada and Rhode Island set no meaningful floor. A 12 person company hiring in California has no posting obligation. A 400 person company hiring in New York does, and a posting with no range from that employer is worth a polite question.
Read the width of the band as information about the level, not about the money
A tight range, say 118,000 to 132,000, means the level is well defined and the negotiation will be about where you sit inside it. A range spanning 80,000 to 200,000 usually means the posting covers several levels at once, and your real task is to find out which level they are hiring you into, because that decision is worth far more than any haggling inside a band. Ask directly: which level does this role map to, and what is the range for that level specifically.
Assume the top of the band, then justify it with scope
The midpoint of a published range is typically where a fully competent, fully ramped person in the role sits. If you bring anything the posting asks for at the higher end, more years, a specific system, direct reports, a regulated environment, the top is the sensible ask rather than a bold one. Name the number and attach exactly one reason to it drawn from their own job description. Do not stack four justifications; one specific reason lands harder than a list.
Never volunteer your current salary, and know whether they may even ask
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia bar private employers from asking what you currently earn: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Lists circulating online also name Alabama, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, which is wrong for private employers: those restrictions apply to state agencies only. Every one of these states still permits the employer to ask what you expect to be paid, which is a different question with a different answer, worked through on our salary expectations page.
Use the published range as your anchor instead of your history
This is the practical gift of these laws. Where you once had to guess at a number and risk anchoring low, you can now open with theirs. Say that you saw the posted range, that based on the scope described you were targeting the upper end of it, and name the figure. You are not inventing an expectation, you are responding to one the employer published. That framing is very hard to argue with and it costs the recruiter nothing to pass upward. Our counter offer guide covers what to do with the response.
Ask what sits outside the range before you settle the base
A posted range is almost always base pay only. Bonus target, equity, sign on, retirement match and the annual increase cycle are usually outside it entirely, and they are frequently easier to move than base, because base increases carry forward into every future budget while a sign on payment does not. If the base genuinely will not move above the band, that is the moment to redirect the conversation rather than to accept. Our total compensation page sets out what to add up.
If the posted range is below your number, say so early rather than late
When a published band tops out under what you need, that is useful information delivered for free, and the professional move is to raise it in the first conversation instead of the fifth. Tell the recruiter what you are targeting and ask whether there is any flexibility above the posted range for a stronger candidate. Sometimes there is, because the band was set for a different level. When there is not, you have saved yourself three rounds of interviews, and recruiters remember candidates who were straightforward about it.
copy and paste
The email that asks for the top of a posted range.
Send this after a verbal or written offer that landed below the top of the published band. It works because it never disputes the range, it uses the employer own published number as the reference point, and it attaches the ask to scope rather than to need. Replace the bracketed parts and delete any paragraph that does not apply.
Subject: Re: Offer for [role title] Hi [recruiter or hiring manager], Thank you for the offer, and for how straightforward this process has been. I want to say clearly that I would like to accept and I am ready to move quickly on a start date. On compensation: the posting listed a range of [low] to [high], and the offer came in at [offered]. Based on the scope in the job description, particularly [one specific requirement you exceed, such as owning the migration end to end, or managing a team of six, or working in a regulated environment], I was targeting the upper end of your published range, at [your number]. If the base is fixed at [offered], I would ask that we look at the rest of the package instead: a sign on payment of [amount], a [percentage] bonus target, or a compensation review at six months rather than at twelve. Any one of those would close the gap for me. Happy to talk it through on a call if that is easier. Either way I am glad this came together and I am looking forward to getting started. Best, [Your name]
Swap the bracketed parts for your own numbers. Counteroffer writes this for your exact offer.
▲ frequently asked
Salary transparency questions people actually ask.
What is salary transparency?
Salary transparency is the practice, and in a growing number of US states the legal obligation, of disclosing what a job pays rather than treating it as confidential until an offer. In its strongest form it means a good faith pay range printed in the job posting itself. Weaker versions require the employer to provide the range only when an applicant asks, or automatically after an interview. The term also covers internal transparency, meaning employees being able to see the pay band for their own role.
What states have pay transparency laws?
Thirteen jurisdictions require a good faith pay range in the job posting: California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington. Connecticut, Nevada and Rhode Island require the range on request or before an offer, with a Connecticut posting requirement scheduled for October 1, 2026. Delaware joins on September 26, 2027. Several cities and counties add their own rules on top of state law.
Do employers have to post salary ranges?
Only in certain states, and usually only above an employee headcount. In the thirteen jurisdictions with a posting requirement, a covered employer must include a good faith pay range in the advertisement. Thresholds vary widely: Hawaii reaches employers with 50 or more employees, Minnesota 30, Massachusetts 25, California, Illinois and Washington 15, New Jersey and Maine 10, Vermont 5 and New York 4, while Colorado, Maryland and the District of Columbia cover essentially any employer with a worker in the jurisdiction. There is no federal requirement.
Can you negotiate above a posted salary range?
Yes. No US pay transparency law caps what an employer may pay; each one governs what the employer must disclose. Published ranges are good faith estimates written before anyone applied, and employers regularly exceed them for candidates who turn out to be stronger than the role was scoped for. Ask at or slightly above the top of the band, tie the request to a specific requirement in their own job description, and expect the answer to depend on the level you are being hired into rather than on the range itself.
Is there a federal pay transparency law?
No. As of August 2026 the United States has no federal statute requiring private employers to disclose pay ranges to applicants. A federal Salary Transparency Act has been introduced in Congress and would require wage ranges in public and internal postings, but it has not been enacted. Federal contractors face separate rules, and the Equal Pay Act addresses pay discrimination rather than disclosure. Everything binding on a private employer today comes from state, city or county law.
What is a good faith salary range?
A good faith range is the pay the employer genuinely expects to offer for the role at the time it publishes the posting, rather than a legally defensive spread. Most of the statutes use that phrasing without setting a numerical width, which leaves enforcement to look at whether the range is plausible. A band of 60,000 to 220,000 for one role is generally treated as non-compliant because no employer expects both ends. If you see a range that wide, ask which level the role maps to and what the range is for that level.
Can an employer ask my salary history?
Not in 17 states and the District of Columbia, where private employers are barred from asking what you currently or previously earned, or from using that history to set your pay. Those states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Alabama, North Carolina and Pennsylvania appear on many published lists but restrict only state government employers. Everywhere, an employer may still ask what you expect to earn.
What happens if an employer does not post a salary range when the law requires one?
Enforcement is handled by a state labor agency or attorney general and typically starts with a complaint, a cure period for a first violation, and civil penalties that escalate for repeat conduct. Some states allow a private right of action; most do not. As a candidate, the realistic value is not the penalty but the leverage: a covered employer that omitted the range has made an error, and asking for the published range for the role is a completely reasonable request that usually produces a number.
Does pay transparency apply to remote jobs?
Generally yes, and this is where these laws reach furthest. If a remote role can be performed from a covered state, that state law commonly applies regardless of where the employer is headquartered, which is why so many national postings now carry a range. Some employers respond by excluding covered states from remote listings. If you see a posting that says the role is open everywhere except Colorado, New York and California, you are looking at that exclusion in practice.
Why do companies post such wide salary ranges?
Three reasons, and only one of them is defensible. The legitimate one is a posting genuinely covering several levels, where the band spans junior through senior and the offer depends on where you land. The second is a national remote role priced across expensive and inexpensive metro areas. The third is simple risk avoidance, publishing a range wide enough that no offer could ever fall outside it. Ask which level the role maps to and the first two explanations produce a straight answer while the third does not.
Should I apply if the posted range is below what I need?
Apply if the gap is modest and the role is a genuine step up in scope, because published bands are set for the level as scoped and a stronger candidate is often hired at a higher level with a different range. Do not apply on the hope that a band 30 percent below your number will stretch that far, because it very rarely does. Either way, raise it in the first recruiter conversation rather than after four interview rounds. Recruiters would much rather hear it early.
Does the posted range include bonus and equity?
Almost never. Nearly all of these laws require disclosure of base pay, and several require a general description of other benefits without attaching numbers to them. So a posted range of 120,000 to 145,000 is usually base salary only, with bonus target, equity, sign on and retirement match sitting outside it. That is useful, because those components are often more negotiable than base, and it is why the total package can move even when a recruiter tells you the base is capped at the top of the band.
▲ sources
- New York State Department of Labor: pay transparency requirements
- HR Dive: running tracker of states and localities requiring pay range disclosure
- HR Dive: running list of state and local salary history bans
- Littler: Maine enacts wage transparency law, effective July 2026
- Jackson Lewis: navigating 2026 pay transparency laws and employer obligations
Last updated August 2026. Figures are estimates and market data changes; verify anything you plan to quote in a negotiation.
▲ what it uses
The features behind salary transparency laws.
▲ more use cases
Walk in knowing your number.
Counteroffer is educational career coaching, not legal, financial, or HR advice.