Pay transparency laws by state in 2026, and what they mean for your offer

A growing list of U.S. states now requires employers to put a pay range in the job posting itself. As of 2026 that list includes New York, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, Colorado, and Massachusetts, among others. Each state defines coverage and posting rules differently. These rules change often, so treat every date and threshold below as dated, and confirm the current law in your state or country before you rely on any specific right.

For you as a candidate, the effect is direct. A required range hands you an anchor before you ever speak. Read it as your starting point and your basis to aim high, never as the ceiling on what you can ask.

By UnchartedCareer. Last updated: July 2026.

This is informational, not financial or legal advice. Laws vary by state and change often, and the summaries below are dated to when each source was checked.

What do pay-transparency laws actually require?#

Most of them require the same core thing, a salary or wage range in the job posting, set in good faith. Beyond that, the details diverge by state: which employers are covered, whether benefits must be listed, whether the rule reaches internal postings and promotions, and what counts as a valid range. Some laws also require disclosure to applicants or to current employees who ask, not only in the public posting.

What none of them do is set your pay. A range is what the employer says it expects to pay, so a wide or high range is still a claim you can test against public salary data. Read the sections below as a starting map, then confirm the current law in your state or country, because the specifics move.

Which states require a salary range in job postings in 2026?#

Here are six with laws in force, each attributed to its own statute or agency and dated. This is a sample, not the full national list, and more states and cities have their own rules.

New York. As of September 17, 2023, New York State Labor Law Section 194-B requires covered employers to post compensation ranges and job descriptions and to state whether a role is commission-based (NY State Department of Labor, 2023). As written it applied to employers with four or more employees (NY State Department of Labor, 2023). Both the date and the employee threshold are high-volatility, so confirm the current law in your state or country before relying on them.

Washington. As of January 1, 2023, RCW 49.58.110 requires employers to disclose the wage scale or salary range in each job posting, or the fixed wage if only a fixed amount is offered, plus a general description of benefits and other compensation (Washington State Legislature, 2023). As written it applied to employers with 15 or more employees, and the statute was amended in 2025 (Washington State Legislature, 2023). Confirm the current version before relying on it.

New Jersey. As of June 1, 2025, New Jersey requires employers to post the hourly wage or salary or a range, a general description of benefits, and other compensation programs, in postings for new positions and transfer opportunities (State of New Jersey, 2025). The effective date is recent and high-volatility, so confirm the current law in your state or country.

Illinois. As of January 1, 2025, an amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act, HB3129, requires employers with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale and benefits in postings for work performed at least partly in Illinois, covering internal and external postings and third parties engaged to post (Illinois General Assembly, 2025). It defines pay scale on a good-faith standard, the wage or salary or range the employer reasonably expects in good faith to offer (Illinois General Assembly). Both the date and the threshold are high-volatility, so confirm the current law before relying on them.

Colorado. Under the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, C.R.S. Section 8-5-101 and following, Colorado's pay-transparency provisions require employers to disclose compensation in all job postings and notices, internal and public, including benefits and how to apply (Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, 2026). That disclosure requirement is high-volatility, so confirm the current rule in your state or country.

Massachusetts. Governor Healey signed the Massachusetts Wage Transparency Act on July 31, 2024 (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2024). As of October 29, 2025, employers with 25 or more employees must disclose pay ranges in postings, to applicants, and to current employees on request (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2025). Confirm the current effective terms before relying on them.

What does a good-faith range mean, and can an employer post a huge one?#

The standard is narrower than a huge range suggests, but enforcement is the part you cannot assume. Illinois defines a pay scale as the wage or salary or range the employer reasonably expects in good faith to offer (Illinois General Assembly). Massachusetts uses the same shape, the salary or wage range the employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position at that time (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2026). A range is meant to reflect a real expectation, not a number picked to look attractive.

In practice, ranges still vary in how useful they are, and how strictly the good-faith standard gets enforced differs by state. Treat a very wide range as a signal to do your own homework, and confirm the current law in your state or country if you want to know what an employer is actually required to give you.

Do these laws actually change what you get paid?#

They appear to move wages up by a small amount. A November 2025 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper found that state policies requiring salary disclosure in job postings raised wages by 1.3 to 3.6 percent across three datasets, using a difference-in-differences design (NBER working paper, November 2025). It is a working paper and the finding is recent, so confirm the current law in your state or country before you count on any specific effect.

The gap these laws aim at is still real. In 2024, women age 16 and older who usually worked full time had median weekly earnings of $1,043 against $1,261 for men, or 83 percent of men's, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Transparency does not erase that on its own. What it does is give the person on the low side of a range the information to ask.

What does a posted range mean for your negotiation?#

Read it as an anchor. The first credible number on the table tends to pull the final figure toward it, often explaining more than half the variance in outcomes in simulated price negotiations among experienced managers (Columbia Business School, 2005). A posted range gives you that anchor for free. Cross-check it against public salary sources for the same role and location, decide on a specific target near the top rather than the middle, and name that number first when the conversation starts.

How do you confirm the law that applies to you?#

Go to the source, the only version that is current. Search for your state labor department or attorney general's pay-transparency page, check the effective date and the employee threshold as of the day you read it, and note that city or county rules can differ from the state. If a role is remote or spans states, more than one law may apply, and which one governs is exactly the kind of detail that changes. When a right matters to your decision, confirm the current law in your state or country, or ask a qualified employment lawyer in your jurisdiction.

You can do all of that yourself, and reading the actual statute once teaches you what a posting is and is not required to tell you. When you want to turn a posted range into a number you will actually say out loud, UnchartedCareer's career coaching includes difficult-conversations practice, so you rehearse the ask before the offer call is live.

This is informational, not financial or legal advice. Pay-transparency and wage rules vary by state and change often, so confirm the current law in your state or country before you rely on any specific entitlement described here.