What are the best resources for actual market salary data?

levels.fyi (tech roles, extremely detailed), Glassdoor (broad coverage, company-specific), LinkedIn Salary (large sample sizes), Payscale (good for non-tech roles), the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (government data, reliable but lags market), Radford/Mercer surveys (if your company uses them), and professional association salary surveys in your field. Use 3+ sources and weight recent data more heavily — markets move fast.

When is the right time to ask for a raise?

The highest-probability times: after a major win or project completion (while your value is top of mind), during annual review cycles (when budget is already allocated for raises), and when you have competing offers (the only time many employers move quickly). The worst times: immediately after a layoff at your company, during a hiring freeze, or as your first action in a new role.

How do I negotiate without risking my job?

The risk is almost always overestimated. Employers almost never rescind offers or fire employees for asking for more compensation professionally. The professional approach: 'I've researched market compensation for my role and experience in this market and found that the median is [X]. Given [specific accomplishments], I'd like to discuss bringing my compensation closer to market rate.' That framing is professional, data-backed, and almost never goes badly.

Should I accept a counter-offer from my current employer?

Studies suggest 50–80% of people who accept counter-offers leave within 12–18 months anyway — either the underlying reasons they looked (management, growth ceiling, culture) don't change, or the employer now sees them as a flight risk and makes decisions accordingly. A counter-offer is worth accepting only if the salary gap was the primary reason for looking. If you were looking for growth, culture, or leadership change, the counter-offer doesn't solve the problem.

💵Income & Budget

Am I Underpaid? Calculate Your Market Pay Gap

Are you being underpaid for your role?

What This Does

Most people have no idea how their salary compares to market rate — and that uncertainty costs them tens of thousands of dollars in wages they never asked for. This calculator takes your current salary, years of experience, and location cost-of-living tier to compute your estimated pay gap: the difference between what you earn and what the market pays for your role and experience level. The tool shows you approximate 25th, 50th (median), and 75th percentile compensation for your experience band, your position within that range, and the annual dollar gap between your current pay and median. It also estimates the lifetime earnings impact of the gap if it compounds over a 10-year period — a $15,000/year underpayment translates to $150,000+ in missed earnings over a decade, before factoring in the compounding effect on raises and retirement contributions. The calculator doesn't replace actual market research — salary databases like levels.fyi, Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, and the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook provide role-specific data. But it gives you a grounded starting point and the confidence framework for whether a compensation conversation is warranted. Research consistently shows that people who ask for raises get them at far higher rates than those who wait to be noticed.

When Should You Use This?

→Suspecting you're underpaid but want a data-backed starting point
→Preparing for a salary negotiation or annual review
→Evaluating a job offer against your current compensation
→Deciding whether a counter-offer from your current employer is fair
→Calculating the lifetime financial impact of a salary gap

Example Scenario

Jordan is a software engineer with 5 years of experience in Austin, TX earning $115,000. The calculator estimates median compensation for a mid-level engineer in a mid-cost city: $130,000–145,000. Jordan's pay gap: $15,000–30,000/year. Over 10 years at the same gap (conservative — it compounds with each raise cycle): $180,000–$360,000 in missed earnings. Jordan researches Glassdoor, levels.fyi, and LinkedIn Salary, gets 3 competing offers averaging $142,000, and requests $138,000 from their current employer. They get $132,000 — a $17,000 raise.

Am I Underpaid? Calculator

Salary vs Market Rate · 10-Year Gap · Negotiation Scenarios · Pay Factors

Results update in real time. Market estimates are modeled — cross-reference with Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, or BLS data.

Current Annual Salary

Years of Experience

yrs

Hours Per Week

hrs

Seniority Level

Industry

Location

Include employer benefits in total comp

Estimated value:

/yr

Disclaimer: Market estimates are modeled approximations based on seniority, industry, and cost-of-living multipliers applied to a $60k national baseline. Cross-reference with Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, LinkedIn Salary, or the Bureau of Labor Statistics for precise data before negotiating.

About This Calculator

This calculator estimates your market salary using: Market = $60,000 base x seniority multiplier x industry multiplier x (CoL index / 100) x (1 + experience bonus). Seniority multipliers: entry 0.75x, mid 1.0x, senior 1.35x, lead 1.55x, director 2.0x, VP 2.8x, executive 4.0x. Industry multipliers: tech 1.45x, finance 1.38x, legal 1.35x, consulting 1.30x, engineering 1.20x, healthcare 1.10x, government 0.90x, manufacturing 0.92x, marketing 0.95x, education 0.72x, hospitality 0.70x, nonprofit 0.75x, retail 0.78x. CoL index: San Francisco 185, New York 178, Seattle 155, Boston 152, LA 148, DC 145, Austin 120, Denver 130, Chicago 118, National Average 100, Rural 82. Experience bonus: 2% per year above level baseline, capped at 20%. Market score = 100 - (gap% x 1.2), clamped 0-100. All 8 inputs update in real time.

The Overview tab renders a vertical bar chart comparing your salary, market estimate, and total comp (three bars, individual accent colours, LabelList dollar labels, ReferenceLine at market) plus a RadarChart of 5 compensation dimensions (seniority fit, industry pay, location CoL, market score, effective hourly value) plus a pay factors table. The Scenarios tab renders a bar chart of new salary at 4 negotiation scenarios (5%/10%/15% raise + job change estimate) with ReferenceLine at market and current salary, plus a scenario table with vs-market delta. The Lifetime tab renders a dual-line chart of your salary vs market rate over 10 years (both at 3%/yr growth) with a legend, plus 3 summary stat cards and a scrollable year-by-year table with annual and cumulative gaps. The Insights tab shows 4 insights (salary position, hourly rate, compounding lifetime impact, leverage analysis) and 4 conditional What To Do Next steps that change based on gap severity.

Score (0-100): 100 minus (gap percentage x 1.2). Dynamic accent: emerald (At/Above Market 85+), indigo (Slightly Below 70-84), amber (Underpaid 50-69), red (Significantly Underpaid below 50). Four auto-trigger risk flags: gap above 25%, hours above 45/week, no benefits modeled with gap present, 10-year gap above $200k. What To Do Next steps are fully conditional — three separate action plans depending on gap severity (15%+, 5-15%, or at/above market), each with 4 specific negotiation tactics.

Results are estimates only and do not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.