What posted salaries actually say about the US job market

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For two days we’ve measured what job postings hide: the pay, then the work mode. Today, the other side. When a posting does show a number, what does it say?

First, four things these numbers are, so you know exactly what you’re looking at:

Cash bands, not total compensation. A posted range is base salary. No equity, no bonus, no benefits. For senior roles especially, real total comp sits well above these figures.
US postings only. The board carries international roles too, but every number below is computed on identifiably US postings, so nothing offshore drags a median around. The figures still blend every US metro and state: a national median is a benchmark’s starting point, not your city’s number.
Annual salaries only. About 40,000 postings disclose hourly rates instead; we count them separately and never blend them into these medians.
Live postings only. This is a snapshot of jobs you could apply to today, July 25, 2026, not a historical average.

The headline numbers

Of 677,096 live postings, 164,117 list an annual salary, and 158,219 of those are US roles. Across the US set:

Salaries on JobWeb

What posted salaries actually say about the US job market

The headline numbers