How to read a salary range

Percentiles beat a single “average”

A single average hides almost everything that matters. Two cities can share a similar median while one has a much wider senior band. That is why we publish p10 through p90 wherever the source provides them.

Think of the 10th percentile as a typical entry or lower-paying end of the market, the 50th (median) as the middle of the distribution, and the 90th as a strong senior or high-paying end — not a guarantee of either extreme.

The gap between p25 and p75 is often more useful than the extremes. A narrow interquartile range usually means the market is compressed (common in regulated public-sector titles); a wide one often signals mixed seniority, employer types, or overtime-heavy roles sitting in the same occupation code.

How to place an offer

Compare your offer to the local median first, then to the 25th–75th band. Landing near the median with weak benefits may be worse than landing slightly below it with strong equity, bonus, or remote flexibility.

Adjust for hours and contract type. An hourly contractor rate annualised at 2,080 hours is not the same as a salaried role with paid leave. Convert everything to a comparable annual (or hourly) basis before you negotiate.

If the offer includes a variable bonus, separate target bonus from base before you place it on the chart. A “$120k package” that is $95k base plus $25k at-target bonus should be compared to market base at $95k, then judged on how realistic the bonus is — not treated as guaranteed cash.

Common misreads

Do not treat the 90th percentile as “what I should earn after three years.” Senior bands often require scarce skills, management scope, or specific employers.

Do not ignore cost of living. A higher nominal salary in an expensive metro can leave less discretionary income than a lower salary in a cheaper city — use the cost-of-living-adjusted figures and rent models as a second lens, not the only one.

Do not assume national and city pages are interchangeable. A national median blends metros and rural areas; a city page (especially an observed one) is the better anchor when your job is tied to a specific labour market.

Next steps on this site

Open a city salary page for the role you care about, check whether the data is observed or modeled, then run the same gross figure through the take-home and cost-of-living calculators. Pair that with our negotiation guide before you reply to an offer.

If you are comparing two cities, lock the same job slug and seniority framing, switch display currency once, and only then look at COL-adjusted pay. Changing three variables at once is how people convince themselves a lateral move is a raise.