How to Research Your Market Salary in Any Country
You cannot negotiate a number you have not researched. Twenty minutes of benchmarking is the difference between a confident range and a guess the employer can talk you out of.
Sources ranked by reliability
Live postings in pay-transparency jurisdictions are the strongest signal because they reflect actual current budgets. Public datasets are useful for shape, and a real conversation with someone in the role beats any aggregate.
- Job postings with published ranges in the same city or country
- Government and industry salary surveys
- Community datasets for your specific function
- One or two candid conversations with people at your level
Adjust for level and location honestly
A senior title at a 40-person company is often a mid-level scope at a 4,000-person company. Benchmark against scope — budget owned, people managed, systems responsible for — and not against the title alone.
For remote roles, check whether the employer pays by their location, by yours, or on a global band. That single fact can change the range by 40%.
Count the whole package
Base salary is one line. Bonus structure, equity, employer pension contributions, healthcare, leave days, allowances and review cadence often add 15-35% of value, and several are easier to negotiate than base.
Turn research into three numbers
Write down your walk-away number, your realistic target and your ambitious ask. Say the ambitious number out loud several times before any call — hearing yourself say it removes the flinch.
Research your market salary: step by step
- 1Define the exact role and levelTitle, scope, team size and seniority band, in one sentence.
- 2Collect three sourcesUse pay-transparent postings, public salary datasets and one human reference point.
- 3Adjust for locationCorrect for country, city and remote-hiring policy rather than using global averages.
- 4Value the whole packageAdd bonus, equity, pension, leave and allowances to the base figure.
- 5Set your three numbersDefine your walk-away, your target and your ambitious ask.
RR JobCopilot features that do this for you
Frequently asked questions
What if there is no salary data for my country?
Use a comparable market and adjust for cost of living and local employer size, then validate with one or two people working in the same function locally.
Should I state a number or a range?
Give a range with a floor you would genuinely accept, since employers usually anchor to the bottom of whatever you say.
How often should I re-benchmark?
Every twelve months, and always before an internal review or an external offer conversation.