In this article
Before you start
This page is one step of the interview process learning path. It teaches the answer from zero, so you need only four money words.
Why interviewers ask this
A salary question is a practical check. The recruiter or hiring manager wants to know whether what you hope to earn fits the range the company has set for the role, before more people spend time on interviews. It is also an early look at how you handle a money conversation with someone whose interests differ from yours.
A weak answer gives one number from memory, or gives your current pay. A strong answer shows you researched the role, gives a range, and keeps the conversation open on total pay. A Staff-level answer also knows the rule where you live, redirects a question about your past pay politely, and asks where the company's range sits for your level. Reading how a whole interview process runs, stage by stage helps you see when this question usually arrives.
Answering a salary question from first principles
- Salary history ban
- A salary history ban is a law that stops an employer from requesting or using a job applicant's previous pay to decide new pay; in some places it bars the question outright, in others it limits when and how the question can be asked.
- Target range
- A target range is a span of pay, from a figure you would accept to a figure you hope for, that you state in answer to a salary question instead of a single number, so the talk has room to settle inside it.
In plain words
Think of a market stall. The seller has a price band in mind. You have a band in mind. Both of you are looking for a price inside the overlap. The analogy breaks in one place: you usually cannot see the seller's band, so research and a polite question stand in for a price tag. Your first job is to learn the band before you commit to a price. Research replaces the price tag because it shows what the role pays, so your number rests on the market and not on a guess.
In one precise sentence, a good salary answer states a researched target range for total compensation and leaves your past pay out of the discussion.
Step 1: Check the rule where the job is
The first move is to know whether the question about your past pay is even allowed. FindLaw, updated February 23, 2026 explains that a salary history ban prohibits employers from requesting or using a job applicant's previous pay to determine new compensation. The same page says such bans prevent employers from asking about your previous pay during the hiring process, and that the rules vary by location.
Some places let an employer consider history you volunteer. California Labor Code section 432.3 lets an employer consider salary history an applicant discloses voluntarily and without prompting, so offering your number can undo a protection you had. Pay transparency is a separate rule that requires posted ranges. The New York State Department of Labor says employers with four or more employees must include a pay range in postings (read in October 2026), and the FindLaw state table says Washington postings must include pay scales and a summary of benefits. This is general information, not legal advice; check your own state and city.
Step 2: Learn the range and count total compensation
The second move is to learn what the role pays. Start with the posted range if there is one, then use public wage data and people in similar roles.
Then count total compensation, because two offers with different mixes cannot be compared by base alone. In the illustrative example used here, a posting shows 140,000 to 170,000 a year, so its midpoint is 155,000.1 Offer A pays a base of 160,000 and a 5% bonus, which is 8,000, so it totals 168,000 a year. Offer B pays a base of 150,000, a 10% bonus of 15,000, and 200,000 of equity vesting over four years, which is 50,000 a year, so it totals 215,000.1 Offer B has the lower base but the higher estimated total compensation, since total compensation adds base, bonus and yearly equity.
Treat that total as an estimate: a bonus is usually a target, and equity's value depends on the share price and vesting. Also ask whether private-company equity can be sold, whether a cliff (often a wait of one year before any equity vests) applies, and what benefits and retirement matching are offered.
Text description of the diagram
- Offer B has the lower base but the higher total compensation.
- Offer A totals 168,000 a year and offer B totals 215,000.
Step 3: Give a target range, not one number
The third move is the answer itself. A single number invites a yes or a no. A target range invites a conversation. Build it from the research: a sensible lower edge is a figure you would truly accept, and a sensible upper edge is a figure the role could plausibly pay.
In the illustrative example, the lower edge is the midpoint of the posted range, 155,000, and the upper edge is the top, 170,000.1 The lower edge must be a number you are happy with, because a range is usually heard from its bottom. Say the range is for total compensation and that you are flexible on the split.
If you are pressed for a floor, answer with what you need to understand, not with the lowest figure: "I would like to know the level and the full package first; within the range I gave, I am open." That keeps your lower edge intact.
Set the lower edge at a figure you would accept; in the illustrative example only, that figure is the midpoint.
Step 4: Redirect questions about past pay, then ask your own
The fourth move is to answer a question about what you earn now without giving a number. Where a salary history ban covers the question, you may decline; where it does not, you can still redirect, because some places let employers consider history you volunteer (see Step 1). Say that you prefer to focus on the role and its market range, then return to your target range.
A calm sentence works: "I'd rather focus on this role's scope and the market than on my current pay; for this role I am targeting the range I gave." After you speak, stop. Then ask a question of your own: where the company's range sits for the level, and how bonus and equity are structured.
Redirect the history question, then name the target range. Practising the sentence out loud matters more than memorising it, which is the same skill covered in interview skills and how to show them.
Step-by-step description
- Check whether past pay may be asked.
- Learn the range and total pay.
- State a target range.
- Redirect past pay, then ask.
- A salary history ban stops an employer from using your past pay to set new pay.
- Total compensation adds base, bonus and yearly equity.
- Set the lower edge at a figure you would accept.
- Redirect the history question, then name the target range.
Knowing it is half the job. Saying it is the other half.
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Start Free Trial →The Staff-level answer
What are your salary expectations?
I would like to understand the scope and level first, but I have looked at what this kind of role pays, and I am targeting a range for total compensation, based on the role and the market, with a lower edge I would accept. I am flexible on how that splits between base, bonus and equity. I would rather not anchor on my current pay, because this role is a different scope. Where does your range sit for this level, and is there room within it?
What makes it Staff-level: it names total compensation, gives a researched range with a lower edge you accept, redirects past pay without friction, and ends by asking for the company's range, so the answer is a two-way exchange.
The rubric
| Dimension | Weak answer | Strong answer | Staff answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparation | Names a figure from memory | Cites the posted range or market data | Knows the local rule and the level's range |
| Shape | One fixed number | A target range | A range for total compensation with a lower edge you accept |
| Past pay | Volunteers the current number | Declines politely | Redirects to scope and market, then returns to the range |
| Tone | Apologetic or defensive | Calm and specific | Collaborative, ends by asking where the company's range sits |
Three variants of this question
What are your salary expectations?
State your target range for total compensation, based on the role and market, and say you are flexible on the split. Avoid a single figure, and ask where the company's range sits.
What is your current salary?
Check whether your location bars the question, since FindLaw says rules vary. You can redirect to the role's scope and market range, then give your target range.
What is the lowest salary you would accept?
Treat it as a request for a floor, but do not state a separate one. Repeat the range you already gave and ask about level and the full package: "Within the range I shared, I am open, depending on the level and the full package. Can you tell me more about both?" Never name a figure below the lower edge you chose in step three.
Common mistakes
- "My current salary is this much." (wrong) It can weaken your position, and some places bar the question. (right) "I'd rather focus on this role's scope and the market range."
- "I'm flexible; whatever you think is fair." (wrong) It leaves the number entirely to the other side. (right) "I'm targeting this range for total compensation, and I'm flexible on the split."
- "I need a bit more than I earn now." (wrong) It anchors on your history instead of the role. (right) "Based on the scope and market, I'm targeting this range."
- "I compared offers by base salary." (wrong) It ignores bonus and equity. (right) "I compared total compensation per year, counting vesting."
Follow-up questions
How to answer interview questions on salary?
It is the same answer: research the range, state a target range for total compensation, and redirect questions about past pay. The steps above run in that order.
What if the recruiter asks about salary in the first call?
Give a short, honest range if you have researched one, or say you would like to understand the role and level first, then commit to a range once you do. Either way, do not offer past pay. To see where pay can come up in a loop, read the stage-by-stage guides to the Anthropic interview process and OpenAI interview questions and process; for a later stage, see what a take-home assignment involves.
What if the job posting shows no pay range?
Ask the recruiter for the range early; some places require ranges in postings, such as New York and Washington for employers covered by the rules in Step 1. If none is given, use public wage data and similar roles to build your own range, and say it is based on the role and market.
Should you name a number first?
The sources used on this page do not settle who should name a number first. A safe default is to ask for the company's range, and if you must go first, give a range with a lower edge you accept.
What if the offer arrives below your target range?
Compare total compensation, not base alone, then respond with your range and the reasons from the role's scope. Ask which parts, base, bonus or equity, have room.
How do you compare two offers with different pay mixes?
Convert each to an estimate of total compensation per year: base plus target bonus plus equity divided by its vesting years. In the example above, the offer with the lower base totals more, but a bonus is usually a target, equity depends on share price and vesting, and benefits are not counted.
- Answer with a researched target range for total compensation, not a single number.
- Check the local rule first: a salary history ban stops employers from using your past pay.
- Do not volunteer your current pay; redirect to the role's scope and the market range.
- Set the lower edge of your range at a figure you would truly accept.
- Compare offers by an estimate of yearly total compensation, including bonus and yearly equity, and remember its limits.
Sources
- Salary History Bans by State: Know Your Rights and Protections — FindLaw, 23 Feb 2026
- Pay Transparency — New York State Department of Labor, 26 Oct 2026
- California Labor Code section 432.3 — California Legislative Information, 26 Oct 2026
