How to answer the salary expectations question without underselling

The question usually comes early, often from a recruiter on the first call, and it feels like a trap. Say too much and you price yourself out. Say too little and you have set your own ceiling. It is less dangerous than it feels, and in a growing number of places the law has changed whose move it is.

Ask for the range. You may be entitled to it

California bars employers from asking applicants about their salary history or relying on it to set an offer. The same section of the Labor Code goes further. An employer must give an applicant the pay scale for the position on reasonable request, and employers with 15 or more employees must put the pay scale in every job posting. The law defines the pay scale as a good-faith estimate of what the employer reasonably expects to pay. It also says, explicitly, that employers may still ask about your salary expectation (California Labor Code § 432.3).

The European Union went in the same direction. Under the 2023 pay transparency directive, applicants have the right to receive the initial pay or its range for the position, in the job advertisement, before the interview or otherwise, so that the negotiation is informed. Employers may not ask about pay history in current or previous jobs. Member states had to bring the directive into national law by 7 June 2026 (Directive (EU) 2023/970), and it is worth checking how and when your own country did so.

Even where no law requires it, asking for the budgeted range is an ordinary question.

Before I give a number, could you share the range budgeted for this role? That will help me see whether we’re in the same place.

Why the first number matters

When neither side knows much, the first number on the table becomes the reference everything else is measured against. A review of negotiation research by John Oesch and Adam Galinsky describes experiments in which whoever made the first offer, buyer or seller, pulled the final price toward it. In simulated negotiations between experienced managers, the first offers explained more than half of the variation in final prices. The effect is strongest when information is scarce. An extreme opening carries its own risk, because it can signal bad faith or end the talks without a deal (Oesch and Galinsky).

Two lessons follow. If the employer names a range before you do, that range now anchors you, so know your own number before the call. And if you name the opening number yourself, make it ambitious and easy to justify.

Know your number before the call

Job postings with pay ranges for similar roles in your city are the most direct guide to the market. In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage estimates for about 830 occupations nationally, by state and by metropolitan area, and its latest release, in May 2026, covers May 2025 (BLS). Adjust upward for skills the posting asks for and you clearly have.

From that research, settle on three figures. The walk-away is the number below which you would decline. The target is what you expect to get, and the ambitious figure is the highest one you could defend. The range you say out loud runs from your target to your ambitious figure, so an offer at the bottom of it is one you would be glad to accept.

Scripts for each moment

On a first call, before you know much

I’d like to understand the scope a little better. Could you share the range you’ve budgeted? If it helps, I’m looking at roles in the [X to Y] range, depending on the responsibilities.

When they insist on a number

Based on what I’ve seen for similar roles in [city] and what this role involves, I’m looking for [target to ambitious]. I’m flexible on how that’s structured.

When they ask what you earn now, where they may still ask

I’d rather focus on what this role is worth. For this position, I’m looking for [range].

When their range is lower than yours

Thanks, that’s useful. My expectation is a bit above that because of [specific skill or experience they asked for]. Is there flexibility at the top of the range, or in other parts of the package?

After an offer

This is where most of the negotiating should happen. Thank them, ask for a day to review, and answer with one clear counter tied to the reasons above. Base salary is one part of the offer. A signing bonus, equity, the title, the start date and remote days are often easier to move.

Mistakes that cost money

Naming a number before you have researched one turns a guess into the anchor. A range whose bottom you would hate is a trap you set for yourself, because the bottom is a number you have just said you would take. Apologising for the number weakens it, so state it once and stop talking. Where nobody can require your current salary, volunteering it gives information away for nothing. And if they go quiet after your number, wait. Filling the silence with a lower figure is negotiating against yourself.

Practice it out loud

This answer is short and has to sound settled, which only comes from saying it a few times. Prepped’s question bank includes the salary question with a direct-answer structure, made of the answer, the one detail that supports it and a line back to the role. It checks that the answer stays brief and brings it back for review before your next call.