Market Salary Research

Run the upgrade.

1. 01

   Define your exact comparison profile

   Write down title, level, years of experience, industry, company size, and location — pay varies significantly across each of these dimensions, so vague comparisons produce useless ranges.

2. 02

   Pull data from at least three independent sources

   Search the same role/level/location combination on at least three of: Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Payscale, LinkedIn Salary, BLS Occupational Employment data, or industry-specific salary surveys.

3. 03

   Adjust for location and remote-work policy

   If your employer uses geo-based pay, compare against your specific metro or their published remote pay zones, not the national average.

   Adjusted range = national range x local cost-of-labor index

4. 04

   Talk to people in similar roles

   Ask 2-3 trusted contacts in comparable roles (former colleagues, recruiters, alumni networks) for a rough range; anecdotal data catches gaps that aggregated sites miss.

5. 05

   Build a low-mid-high range

   Combine all sources into a single range with a conservative floor, a realistic midpoint, and an ambitious ceiling you could justify with evidence.

   Range = [floor from lowest credible source, midpoint of overlapping sources, ceiling from top-quartile data]

6. 06

   Document your sources

   Save links, screenshots, or notes for each data point so you can cite them later in a raise or offer conversation.