How to Research Salaries Before Applying for a Job

Walking into a salary negotiation without data is like negotiating a car price without knowing the MSRP. You'll almost certainly leave money on the table.

Here's how to research salaries properly — before you apply, before you interview, and before you negotiate.

Best sources for salary data

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

The most reliable source. The BLS publishes annual Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for hundreds of job titles, broken down by state and metro area. It lags by about a year but has no incentive bias.

Glassdoor and Levels.fyi

Self-reported data — useful for getting a sense of company-specific pay. Take with a grain of salt since they skew toward tech and higher earners who are more likely to report.

LinkedIn Salary

Good for seeing ranges by title, location, and years of experience. Requires a Premium subscription for full data.

Wagelit

Combines BLS data with your specific offer details to give you a verdict on whether your offer is below, fair, good, or great — plus a negotiation script.

How to adjust for your situation

Location: Salaries in San Francisco are 40–60% higher than in smaller metros for the same role. BLS publishes metro-level data — always use the most specific geographic data available.

Experience: The 25th percentile roughly corresponds to 0–3 years. The 75th percentile to 8+ years. If you're mid-career, target the 50th–60th percentile as a baseline ask.

Company size: Enterprise companies pay 20–30% more than startups at the same title level. Factor this in when comparing offers.

When to use this data

Use it before you apply to set expectations. Use it before the interview if asked about salary expectations ("Based on my research, I'm targeting $X–$Y"). Use it when you receive an offer to validate whether it's fair before negotiating.