Are you being paid fairly? While it’s not socially acceptable to ask people outright how much they earn, there are ways to find out someone’s salary.
There are few things in life more taboo than talking about how much money you earn – or trying to find out how much someone else earns – which can make it tricky when negotiating a salary for a new job or asking for more money with your current employer.
And if you just want to make sure you are being paid fairly – it certainly helps to know what colleagues at your level and above are taking home in their weekly or monthly paychecks. After all, you don’t want to be the lowest-paid person in your office if you have more experience and perform at a higher level than some of your co-workers. And, let’s be honest. Pay inequity is still an issue in 2024. Women historically make less than men in so many job fields – even when performing similar work with the same amount of experience.
There are, of course, a lot of other reasons you might want to find out someone’s salary that don’t have anything to do with living on the nosy side of the road. No matter your motives, here are some of the places where you can find salary information for millions of jobs, including those that are classified as remote and allow you to work from home.
1. OpenPayrolls
OpenPayrolls bills itself as the largest nationwide salary database, with more than 100 million public salary records by name, employer, and job title. While most people who work for public institutions – such as state universities and public K-12 schools – understand their salaries are a matter of public record, some are surprised to find out just how long those records hang around online.
If you are interviewing for a job at a particular state-funded agency, it could help to know how much people earn in the role you are seeking. After all, if a salary range for a job is listed between $60,000 and $90,000, knowing if someone actually makes the high end of the scale could help you decide if it’s worth pursuing.
2. Glassdoor.com
Whether you are starting a job search in earnest or you are curious to know what you could earn working for a particular company in a specific role, Glassdoor.com offers a wealth of real-world information from current and former employees from thousands of businesses in the United States and beyond. In addition to annual and hourly rate information, Glassdoor also includes company reviews, so you’ll have a better idea of things such as company culture and the quality of benefits, including everything from health insurance and sick days to retirement plans, overtime pay, vacation benefits, and other perks, from people who actually worked there.
3. Indeed Salary Search
At Indeed.com, the company offers the Indeed Salary Search, which is based on an index of pay information pulled from more than 50 million job postings, according to the job listing firm. While many job descriptions don’t contain salary information, Indeed explains that “there are enough to produce statistically significant median salaries for millions of keyword, job title, and location combinations.”
According to Indeed, the salary search index is automatically updated with new salary data every 24 hours, so the results are up-to-date.
4. Transparent California
From the head football coach at the University of California to a fire chief in Long Beach, Transparent California breaks down the base salary, plus overtime, other pay, and benefits of some 35 million state workers in California. The group’s mission is to provide a comprehensive database of public pay information (from public employers) to help provide government transparency “while empowering a network of well-informed citizen activists to hold government accountable.” California is also one of the states that now has pay transparency laws.
5. PayScale
Those who go online and complete a PayScale salary survey will receive reports demonstrating how their salary compares to others with similar education, work experience, and skills. How can that be useful? Maybe you are considering moving and want to see how relocating to a different area (with a different cost of living) will impact your earnings. You can also do career research on a variety of jobs (by state or sector) and look up in-depth salary data here.
6. Candid (formerly GuideStar)
If you are curious about how much CEOs and other C-suite level leaders make at nonprofits in the United States, Candid likely has the answers. Formerly known as GuideStar, Candid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit offering salary data and other insights that was formed in 2019 when GuideStar and Foundation Center merged. The company uses data about employee wages pulled from IRS 990 forms. While most information is free to review, Candid does require visitors to sign in before gaining access to certain data. The firm also produces an annual Nonprofit Compensation Report that offers details on executive pay at nonprofits around the nation.
7. Job Postings
If your own company is hiring, one way to see how much they are willing to pay new workers is to check out the jobs that are posted on the firm’s website. If no pay details are included – only about a dozen states have pay transparency laws on the books so far – you can also search for the position on employment websites such as Indeed, Glassdoor, and Monster. Don’t forget you can also sleuth around on LinkedIn to see if the job is listed there.
8. Your Human Resources Department
The people who work in human resources may be able to offer more insight into a job’s pay range than you might think. Sometimes, they can only divulge certain information if it’s requested. So, if your company has an open position you’d like to know more about, start with a call or visit to your HR department. You might also learn how much it’s possible to earn in your current position and how much other roles a step or two above your current role earn.
9. States With Pay Transparency Laws
Nearly a dozen states now have pay transparency laws on the books in an effort to create a more level playing field, free from discrimination, for workers trying to make sure they are being compensated fairly. The following states have laws requiring employers to give access to salary information: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Minnesota recently passed a pay transparency law that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Other states, counties, and cities in the U.S., including New York City, either have or are also considering pay transparency laws in 2024.
How to Find Out Someone’s Salary Wrapup
Knowledge is power when it comes to how much we know about the average salaries and compensation packages of co-workers, current employees, and those in similar jobs at other companies. After all, when you walk into a salary negotiation with a prospective employer, you want to be able to offer a solid salary expectation if asked. You also need to understand the pay scale of your current position to know if you have any wiggle room on your way up the corporate ladder.