How to Research What a Role Actually Pays

Every guide about salary tells you to “do your research.” Almost none of them explain that the sources contradict each other by 40% or more, that most of them are biased in a predictable direction, and that a single number from a salary website is worse than useless because it is confidently wrong.

Good pay research is not about finding the number. It is about triangulating a range from several sources whose biases you understand, and then adjusting it for the specific job in front of you.

Why the sources disagree

Each source is measuring something different, and each has a structural bias:

None is authoritative alone. Together they bracket the truth.

Step 1: the statistical baseline

Start with national statistics, because they are based on actual earnings rather than self-selection.

• UK: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which gives median and percentile gross pay by occupation and region.
• US: Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, with median and percentile wages by occupation and metro area.
• EU / elsewhere: Eurostat, and the national statistics office in your country.

Take the median and the 75th percentile for your occupation and region. That gives you a defensible floor and a realistic upper marker. Their weakness is granularity — occupation categories are broad, so a specialist role may sit well above the group median.

Step 2: posted ranges

This is the fastest-improving source, because pay transparency law now requires ranges in job advertisements in a growing number of places: several US states including California, Colorado, New York, and Washington; and across the EU under the Pay Transparency Directive, which member states are implementing by June 2026.

Two ways to use it:

• Search your job title filtered to a transparency jurisdiction, even if your role is elsewhere. It gives you a real, current employer-stated range, which you then adjust for your market.
• Collect ten to fifteen current postings for the same title and level, and note the ranges. Look at where they cluster, not at the outliers.

Interpret posted ranges carefully. Employers frequently post wide bands and hire in the lower half. Treat the midpoint as a realistic target and the top as reserved for someone exceeding the requirements.

Step 3: aggregators, with correction

Glassdoor, Payscale, LinkedIn Salary, Levels.fyi, and equivalents are useful for shape and for sector-specific detail official data cannot give. Handle with three corrections:

• Assume an upward skew. People are more likely to report a salary they are pleased with.
• Check the sample size and date. A “median” from eleven reports over four years is noise.
• Watch title inflation. “Senior Analyst” covers an enormous span across companies.

Levels.fyi is a notable exception for large technology companies, where its data on total compensation including equity is unusually good and granular by level.

Step 4: ask a person

The single most accurate source, and the one people avoid.

Agency recruiters

A recruiter who specialises in your function places people every month and knows what offers are actually landing at. Ask directly:

“I am not looking to move right now, but I would like to understand the market. For an operations manager with about eight years, running a team of twenty in the North West, what range are you seeing offers land at?”

Most will answer. They are building a relationship for later, which is a fair trade.

Peers

Asking “what do you earn?” is uncomfortable. Asking about the market is not:

“I am trying to work out whether I am being paid reasonably. If a role like mine came up, what range would you expect it to be advertised at?”

This gets you most of the information with none of the awkwardness. In many countries, including the UK and the US, discussing pay with colleagues is protected and employers may not lawfully prohibit it — though many still try through contract clauses of doubtful enforceability.

Step 5: adjust for the specific job

A national median is a starting point, not an answer. The adjustments that matter most:

Location

Regional differences within a country are large — often 20–35% between a capital city and a smaller region for the same role. Where pay includes an explicit location allowance, ask whether it is permanent.

Company size and stage

• Early-stage startups typically pay below market in cash and compensate with equity of uncertain value.
• Funded scale-ups often pay at or above market to hire quickly.
• Large corporates pay near market with strong benefits and rigid bands.
• Public sector and charities pay below market in cash, often with substantially better pensions — which can close much of the gap in total value.

Sector

The same function pays very differently across industries. An accountant in financial services and one in local government are not in the same market.

Scope, not title

Titles are unreliable. Compare on what the job actually involves: number of reports, budget, whether you own a function or contribute to one, and who you report to. A “Manager” reporting to a director with six reports is a different job from a “Manager” with none.

Remote roles

Ask directly whether pay is location-adjusted. Some companies pay a single global or national rate; others band by location. This can move an offer by 30% and it is rarely stated in the advertisement.

Total compensation, not salary

Comparing two offers on base alone will mislead you. Build a rough annual total for each:

• Base salary
• Realistic bonus — use what it actually paid recently, not the maximum
• Employer pension or retirement contribution, as a cash figure
• Employer-paid health cover, particularly significant in the US
• Equity, valued conservatively and annualised over the vesting period
• Annual leave above statutory, valued at your daily rate
• Commuting cost and time avoided by remote work

A £48,000 role with a 12% employer pension, 30 days leave, and full remote can beat a £55,000 role with 3%, 22 days, and a daily commute.

Are you underpaid where you are?

Run the same research on your current role. Two common findings:

• Long tenure suppresses pay. Internal raises frequently run below market movement, so people who stay accumulate a gap purely by staying. This is why moving jobs often produces a bigger increase than any raise.
• Your scope grew and your pay did not. If you are doing a job two levels above your title, you are benchmarking against the wrong role.

If you find a gap, that research is exactly what you need for a raise conversation.

A worked example

Operations Manager, Manchester, 8 years’ experience, team of 20, logistics.

• ONS median for the occupation group in the North West: £44,000; 75th percentile £56,000.
• Posted ranges across 12 current listings: mostly £45,000–£60,000, clustering around £50,000–£55,000.
• Aggregator average: £58,000 — discounted for upward skew.
• Recruiter says offers are landing at £52,000–£58,000, with supplier negotiation experience pushing toward the top.
• Adjustments: team of 20 is above typical for the band; supplier ownership is a genuine differentiator.

Conclusion: walk-away £50,000, target £56,000, ask £60,000. That is a defensible position with a stated basis, which is what makes it hold up in a conversation.