Pay Transparency in 2027: How to Use Posted Salary Ranges to Get a Bigger Raise

More job ads than ever now come with a salary range attached, and that’s handing workers something they rarely had before: real numbers to bring into a pay conversation. As 2026 winds down, the list of places that require employers to post pay keeps growing. Connecticut’s expanded law went live on October 1, Columbus, Ohio follows on January 1, 2027, and Delaware joins next fall. If you’re planning to ask for a raise, switch jobs, or push back on an offer in the new year, here’s what’s changing and how to use it.

What’s new in pay transparency for late 2026 and 2027

Payscale’s October 2026 legislative roundup lays out the latest moves. The highlights for U.S. workers:

• Connecticut (October 1, 2026): every employer, no matter how small, must include a wage range and a general description of benefits in every internal and external job posting. It also covers out-of-state roles that report to a Connecticut supervisor or office.
• Columbus, Ohio (January 1, 2027): the city’s pay transparency ordinance takes effect at the start of the year.
• California (January 1, 2027): penalties for repeatedly failing to file pay data reports jump from $200 to $1,000 per employee, which pushes large employers to keep their pay data clean.
• Delaware (September 26, 2027): employers with more than 25 employees must post a good-faith minimum-to-maximum range plus a benefits description, according to Foley & Lardner. It also reaches remote jobs offered by Delaware-based employers, even when the worker lives elsewhere.

Those join a long list of places that already require ranges in postings, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Washington, D.C., and, as of this year, Virginia and Maine, as CompBldr’s state-by-state guide tracks.

Enforcement is getting teeth, too. In Washington State, Scribd agreed to a $3 million settlement in August 2026 over job postings without salary ranges, and Boeing reached a settlement of $5.2 million to $8 million, per Payscale. Employers notice numbers like that.

Why this matters more right now

Pay growth is slowing. The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed average hourly earnings up just 3.0% over the past year, to $37.81, the slowest pace since 2021. Meanwhile, Indeed Hiring Lab found advertised wages grew only 2.4% year over year in September, and inflation-adjusted weekly earnings slipped. When raise budgets are tight and prices keep climbing, guessing at your market value is expensive. Posted ranges take a lot of the guessing out.

It’s not all gloomy. Indeed also reports job postings are about 4% above their pre-pandemic level and that 68% of occupational sectors are posting more jobs than a year ago, with engineering and IT roles seeing the strongest pay gains. If you’re in one of those fields, the ranges you find may be higher than you expect.

How to use posted salary ranges to get paid more

1. Build your own market-rate file

Spend an hour pulling 10 to 15 current postings for your job title, at your level, in your area (and remote roles if you could do your job remotely). Write down the low end, the high end, and the midpoint of each range. Because so many states now require ranges, even national employers often post them everywhere to keep things simple. After a dozen listings, a clear pattern shows up, and that pattern is a much stronger argument than “I feel underpaid.”

2. Aim for the middle or above, not the bottom

A posted range is usually wide. Companies often start new hires near the bottom to leave room for raises, but if you meet every listed requirement and bring extra skills, there’s no reason to accept the floor. Use the midpoint as your baseline, and point to specific results when you ask for more. Our guide on how to counter a job offer without losing it walks through the wording.

3. Check your current pay against your own company’s postings

Here’s the part many people miss: your own employer’s job board is now a source of pay data. If your company posts an opening for your exact role with a range that starts above what you earn today, that’s a strong, polite, hard-to-dismiss reason to ask for an adjustment. Some laws, including Connecticut’s, also cover internal postings, and in several states you can ask for the range of your current position. Bring the posting to your manager, keep it factual, and ask what it would take to bring your pay in line.

4. Use the range when you’re promoted

Internal promotions are where pay often lags the most, because companies anchor to your old salary. If the higher role has a posted range, ask to be placed in it based on the new job, not as a percentage bump on your old pay. We covered this in detail in how to negotiate pay when you’re promoted internally.

5. Don’t forget the benefits line

Newer laws in Connecticut and Delaware require a general description of benefits too. Compare those descriptions across offers. A slightly lower salary with a strong 401(k) match, an HSA contribution, or a bonus can come out ahead. Run the full numbers before you decide.

What posted ranges can’t tell you

Ranges are a starting point, not a promise. Some employers post very wide bands to stay compliant without revealing much, and a range doesn’t show what people actually earn inside it. Pair postings with other sources, such as industry salary surveys, conversations with peers, and the raise budgets employers are planning for next year. Our 2027 raise forecast is a useful reference point for what a “normal” raise looks like right now.

Also keep in mind that rules vary a lot by location and employer size, and some cover only certain postings. If you think an employer broke a posting law, your state labor department’s website is the place to check the details.

The bottom line

Pay transparency laws were written for job seekers, but they’re just as useful to people who want a raise without leaving. With wage growth at its slowest in five years, walking into a pay conversation with a stack of real, current salary ranges is one of the simplest ways to make your case. Start building that file now, so you’re ready when review season or a new offer comes around in 2027. If you’d rather make the ask in writing, our raise request email template gives you a ready-made starting point.