Salary ranges are not invented by your manager. Most companies of any size buy market survey data, match each job to a benchmark, and build a range around the market median: commonly 80% of the midpoint at the bottom and 120% at the top.
Where you sit inside that range is called your compa-ratio. At 0.85, you are paid 85% of the midpoint, which companies read as “developing in role” and you might reasonably read as “room to negotiate.” Above 1.0, raises slow down, because the system is designed to hold people near the midpoint.
Three practical uses. First, when a recruiter says a range, assume the midpoint is the market median they bought, and negotiate relative to it rather than to the bottom. Second, when a raise is denied “because of the range,” ask where you sit in it; a low compa-ratio turns the range from a wall into your argument. Third, when you are promoted, your new range’s midpoint should step up meaningfully; a promotion that leaves you below the new midpoint is normal, but one that barely moves your pay deserves a question.
You can approximate any employer’s midpoint with public market data. Check the median and the 25th to 75th percentile spread for your title and state with our free market check, and you will walk into the conversation already knowing roughly what their survey told them.
Reviewed by Michael Dennis Graham
Michael Dennis Graham is the founder of Grahall, LLC, an executive compensation consulting firm, and the author of numerous books on compensation and total rewards strategy. He has advised boards and management teams on pay design and has served as an expert on compensation matters. Articles on WePayFairly are prepared by our editorial team and reviewed for accuracy and methodology.
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