For years, asking "what does this job pay" felt like asking a stranger about their therapy bill. Companies treated compensation like a state secret, and job seekers were left to guess, negotiate blind, or simply accept whatever number appeared in an offer letter. This has started to change because state legislatures wrote it into law.

At least 16 states and Washington, D.C. now require employers to disclose a salary range in job postings. The laws vary, but the underlying idea is that candidates deserve to know the range before investing hours in an application.

When Colorado became one of the first states to pass a pay transparency law in 2021, employer groups predicted fewer job postings and ranges so wide they would tell candidates nothing. A National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper published in November 2025 tested those predictions and found the opposite. Wages rose, and workers in transparency states earned 1.3% to 3.6% more. Job postings with salary data doubled in Colorado within a year, and employers did not use vague ranges to dodge the law.

Transparency increases competition because when a company publishes a number, it must compete on that number. This shifts leverage in a negotiation that used to rest almost entirely with the employer. However, the system is not fully corrected, as roughly one in five listings in transparency states remain noncompliant.

The research suggests that employer fears regarding transparency were not borne out, and pay ranges clarified the market rather than confusing it. Ultimately, the data indicates that pay transparency is a rare "win-win" for the modern labor market: it provides job seekers with the leverage of a defined starting point while helping employers attract high-quality talent through competitive, honest data. Whether you are searching for a role or building a team, staying vague is no longer a strategic advantage. It is a barrier to entry.