Career & Negotiation

Salary Expectations Question: How to Answer It

By Maren Hale / November 11, 2026

“What are your salary expectations?” is the question that makes experienced people go quiet, because both easy answers cost money. Name a number too low and you may be capped there. Name one too high and you may be screened out. The way through is dull and works: learn what the job pays, answer with a researched range (or politely defer), and know whether your state lets the employer ask about your current pay. This guide covers the research, the state rules we could verify in November 2026, and wording for each situation, including internal moves.

Key takeaways

Research first. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes median and percentile pay for about 830 occupations, based on May 2025 data in its latest release.
Where you can, ask for the pay range before giving a number. Several states require ranges in postings or on request.
If you do give a figure, give a range whose bottom you would genuinely accept, not a single number.
Salary history questions are banned or limited in many states. Where they are banned, you can decline, and the question is usually about your expectations instead.
Pay is more than base salary. Bonus, benefits and schedule belong in the same conversation.

Why the question is asked, and why it is tricky

Employers ask early because they want to know whether a candidate fits the budget before spending interview time. For you, the same question is a negotiation move disguised as a screening step. The first number spoken tends to become the reference point for everything after it.

Build your number from market data

The Bureau of Labor Statistics runs the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, which produces annual employment and wage estimates for about 830 occupations, for the nation, states and metropolitan areas. The latest release on its program page covers May 2025. The Occupational Outlook Handbook draws its median pay figures from this survey.

A worked example

Take management analysts, as one example. The Handbook lists a median of $101,860 a year in May 2025. The lowest-paid 10 percent earned less than $60,640 and the highest-paid 10 percent earned more than $171,640. The median for all occupations that year was $50,980. That spread is why a national median is a starting point, not an answer. The Handbook says pay varies with experience, responsibility, performance, tenure and geographic area.

What the numbers include and leave out

Question	What BLS says about OEWS
Who is counted	Wage and salary employees. Self-employed people, owners and partners of unincorporated firms, household workers and unpaid family workers are excluded.
What pay is included	Straight-time gross pay: base rates, commissions, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed and incentive pay, production bonuses, tips and similar.
What is left out	Overtime, shift and weekend premiums, year-end and stock bonuses, profit sharing, severance, and benefits.
Annual figures	Assume a full-time, year-round schedule of 2,080 hours.
Age of the data	Estimates pool about three years of survey panels, with older wages adjusted to the May reference date.
What it cannot show	BLS lists experience, cost of living, establishment size, work schedule and unionization as factors that move wages and that OEWS measures cannot take into account, so adjust for those yourself.

Because the survey leaves out year-end bonuses and stock, a role with a large bonus can look lower in the data than it really is. Treat OEWS as the start of your research, then cross-check against the posted range and people in your network.

Know your state’s rules

The rules we could verify are state rules, and they differ. Two separate ideas get mixed up. A salary history ban limits whether an employer may ask what you were paid before. Pay transparency rules require employers to share pay information, in postings or on request. Check your own state’s labor department page for the current text, since laws change.

State	What the state labor agency says
California	Employers generally cannot ask applicants for salary history, directly or through a third party. Applicants may volunteer it. Employers may ask about salary expectations. On reasonable request, the employer must give the pay scale for the position, a good-faith estimate of the range it expects to pay on hire. Employees can also ask for the pay scale for their own position.
Washington	Employers cannot ask applicants about past pay, including on optional application questions, and cannot require prior pay to meet a minimum. Postings that recruit Washington-based workers must include a wage scale or salary range and a general description of benefits, for employers with 15 or more employees. It applies to remote roles a Washington-based worker could fill.

A legal-information nonprofit, Workplace Fairness, summarizes more states. Its state list says employers may not seek or rely on pay history in states including California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, with narrower versions elsewhere. Maine bars the question until an offer has been negotiated, and Maryland permits it only after an offer, to justify paying more than first offered. Massachusetts lets an employer confirm pay history only if you volunteer it or after an offer. Several states, including Maryland, Missouri and Nevada, bar employers from penalizing applicants who decline to give pay history. The same page notes that employers must give the pay range on request in California, Connecticut, Maryland and Rhode Island, and that the National Labor Relations Act protects employees’ right to discuss wages with coworkers. We read that page as a secondary source, so confirm any specific state with its labor department.

Your three ways to answer

There is no single correct reply. Pick the one that fits how much you know and how far into the process you are.

Approach	When it fits	Sample wording
Ask for the range	Early screening, or the posting had no pay information	“Could you share the range budgeted for this role? I want to make sure we are in the same area.”
Defer	You do not yet know the scope, level or benefits	“I would like to understand the responsibilities better before naming a figure. I am confident we can find something fair.”
Give a range	You have researched the market and they keep asking	“Based on the market for this role in this area, I am looking at $X to $Y, depending on the full package.”

How to set the range

Set the bottom at a figure you would truly accept, since employers often hear the lower end. Set the top at what market data and your experience justify. If you are above the posted range, say what you bring that sits outside it, such as scope or years, rather than simply asking for more.

Deferring works once. If the recruiter presses again, answer with a range.

When they ask what you earn now

First check your state. In states with a ban, the employer generally cannot require the answer, and in some of them cannot use it in setting your offer. In California, for example, you may volunteer history, but you are never required to. Where there is no ban, you may still decline politely and redirect.

Acknowledge the question without arguing: “I would rather focus on what this role is worth.”
Offer your researched range for the job.
If pressed in a state without a ban, give total compensation honestly, not an inflated figure, and say what it includes.
Never overstate current pay. Offers can be withdrawn over a mismatch, and some employers verify.
If a form requires an answer, put “negotiable” or “will discuss” where the system allows it, and note it for the recruiter.

Volunteering your current figure can help when it is above the market, and hurt when it is below. Decide on that basis, not out of habit.

If you are an internal candidate

An internal move shifts the problem. The company already knows what you earn, so a salary history ban does little for you. What matters is the range for the new role, and in some states you can find out. In Washington, employers with 15 or more employees must give the new position’s wage scale or salary range, on request, to an employee offered an internal transfer or promotion, though only once the position is offered. Workplace Fairness says Nevada requires employers to share the range with applicants who have interviewed, internal moves included. California’s pay scale right for current employees covers their own present position, and its applicant right applies to people not currently employed by that employer, so do not assume it covers an internal move. Workplace Fairness also notes that discussing wages with coworkers is protected under federal labor law. Ask your manager or HR for the new role’s range before you talk numbers.

Anchor on the market rate for the new job, not on a percentage raise over your current pay, which keeps you behind if you were paid below market. Bring the Handbook figure for the target job and your results over the past year.

A checklist before the conversation

Look up your occupation in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook and note the median and the 10th and 90th percentile figures.
Check the posting for a pay range. If your state requires one and it is missing, that is worth noting.
Read your state labor department’s page on salary history and pay transparency.
Decide your walk-away number and your target number, in total compensation terms.
List what is not salary: bonus, retirement match, health coverage, paid time off, remote days.
Say the three answers from the table aloud, plus your current-pay answer.

Frequently asked questions

Is it rude to ask for the range first?

No. It is a routine request, and in some states employers must give you the range on request. A short, polite question is fine.

Can an employer legally ask what I made at my last job?

It depends on the state. California and Washington restrict it, and Workplace Fairness lists a number of others. In some places it is allowed only after an offer. Check your state labor department.

Should I give a single number or a range?

A range, in most cases, with a bottom you would accept. A single number is usually treated as the figure to meet or beat.

Do the BLS figures apply to my city?

Not exactly. OEWS publishes national, state and metropolitan area estimates, but BLS says OEWS measures cannot take into account factors such as cost of living, experience or establishment size, and the program does not publish estimates by establishment size.

Before you decide

Your answer should be a number you have earned the right to say. Spend an hour on the BLS data and your state’s rules, write your range down, and practise it once. If you suspect an employer has broken your state’s rules, ask your state labor department or an employment attorney.