What Are Your Salary Expectations? How to Answer, With Scripts

10 min read

Updated October 8, 2026·Originally published October 8, 2026

How to answer 'what are your salary expectations': ask for their range or give a researched one, scripts for when they push, the laws, and a scored example.

Answer "what are your salary expectations?" in one of two ways. Either ask for their range first ("Could you share the range budgeted for this role?"), or give a researched range and say what it is based on ("Based on comparable postings for senior analyst roles in this area, I'm targeting $85,000 to $95,000 base."). Make the bottom of any range a number you would accept, do not volunteer your current salary, and stop talking once you have said it. Check the job posting first: California, Colorado, Washington, New York State, and New York City require pay information in many job postings.

That covers the answer itself. The rest of this guide covers the scripts for each approach, how to research a range in about an hour, what the pay-transparency and salary-history laws actually say (five jurisdictions, each cited), what to say when you are pushed for one number, the common mistakes, and two answers we wrote and scored with Interview Drills' own scorer: a weak first take that scored 18 to 22, and our rewrite that scored 78, not higher, and why.

What are the two ways to answer "what are your salary expectations"?

There are two workable answers: ask for their budgeted range, or give a researched range with what it is based on. Both are fine; what fails is a hedge, a single number said like a demand, or "whatever you think is fair." Which one to use depends on what you already know.

Interview Drills' recruiter screen guide calls the ask-first order the Band-First Play: ask for the band, give a researched range if they decline, and deflect at most once. This page uses the same order.

Approach 1: Ask for their range

Asking for the budgeted range works because it is a normal question, the recruiter already knows the answer, and it lets you place yourself inside a real number instead of guessing. Scripts (adapt the wording; don't memorize it):

• Recruiter screen: "Happy to talk numbers. Could you share the range budgeted for this role? I want to make sure we're aligned before we go further."
• If they ask you to go first: "I've done some research, but you know the budget for this specific role far better than I do. What range are you working with?"
• When they share it: "Thanks, that's helpful. Based on what you've described, I'd expect to be in the upper half of that range."

Use the ask once. If they still want your number, move to Approach 2.

Approach 2: Give a researched range

A researched range works because it shows you know the market and gives the recruiter something they can log. The structure is: the range, what it is based on, then a short question back. Scripts:

• No posted range: "Based on what comparable roles in this area pay, I'm targeting $85,000 to $95,000 base. What range do you have budgeted?"
• Posted range exists: "I saw the posted range of $80,000 to $100,000. Given that I've done this exact work for four years, I'd expect to land between $90,000 and $100,000."
• Keeping base separate from the package: "For base, I'm targeting $85,000 to $95,000. How does that compare with your budget for the role?"

Make the bottom of your range a number you would accept. Assume the other side hears the bottom as your answer, so a "range" whose low end is below your floor is really a commitment to the low end.

How do you research a salary range before the call?

Build your range from two kinds of public data: employer-posted ranges for comparable jobs, and government wage statistics for your occupation and area. An hour is enough.

1. Read the posting you applied to. If it was posted by an employer covered by a pay-transparency law (next section), the range may already be in it. That is the most specific data you will get.
2. Collect posted ranges for 5 to 10 comparable roles. Search job boards for the same title and level, filtered to your city or to roles open to your location. Employers covered by the laws in the next section have to include ranges in those postings, so they work as a public dataset of what employers say they will pay. Note the low and high of each.
3. Check government wage data. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program "produces employment and wage estimates annually for approximately 830 occupations," for the nation, individual states, and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. It describes an occupation as a whole, not a specific level, so use it as a check on your posting data, not as your range.
4. Set three numbers. Your floor (the lowest offer you would accept), your target, and a top that stays believable given the postings you found. Your stated range runs from at or above your floor to that top.
5. Write one sentence about what the range is based on. "Based on comparable postings for this role in this area" is enough. That sentence is what turns a number into an anchor.

What do pay-transparency and salary-history laws change?

Two kinds of laws matter here. Pay-transparency laws require employers to publish or provide a pay range. Salary-history laws stop employers from asking what you were paid before. California's Labor Commissioner and New York State's guidance both say directly that employers may still ask about your salary expectations. Here is what the official agency pages say for five jurisdictions, checked on October 8, 2026. This is a summary, not legal advice, and laws change; follow the links for current rules.

Two details matter for your answer:

• In California, volunteering your salary history lets the employer use it. The Labor Commissioner's guidance says that if an applicant discloses salary history "voluntarily and without prompting," the employer may consider it in setting pay (§ 432.3(i)). That applies only to disclosure without prompting; answering when asked is not volunteering, and the law still bars using prior pay to justify a sex, race, or ethnicity-based pay gap for substantially similar work (§ 432.3(k)).
• In California you can ask for the range, and the employer has to give it. Any employer must provide an applicant the pay scale for the position on reasonable request (§ 432.3(c)(1)). "Could you share the pay scale for this role?" is a request the law backs up.

Outside these five, rules vary by state and city, and this page does not cover them. Your state or city labor agency's website is the place to check.

What do you say when they push for one number?

The recruiter screen guide says that if you are pressed, you should give a researched range, never a single number, and that is the right answer to the first push. This section covers the next step: you have already given a range, and the recruiter says they need one figure to record.

This applies to recruiter screens and early rounds; in a final round, the final-round guide advises giving your range and deferring actual negotiation until there is an offer. Give one number, make it a target rather than your floor, and stop. Treat the push as a normal request, not a trap: the recruiter may simply need one figure to record or pass on, and a second refusal can cost more goodwill than a well-chosen number costs leverage.

• After you have given a range: "If you need one number, put down $92,000 base."
• If they ask whether you would take the bottom of your range: "The bottom of my range is a number I'd consider, but $92,000 is what I'm targeting for this scope."
• If they ask for your current salary instead: "I keep my current pay private, but my target for this role is $85,000 to $95,000." (In the five jurisdictions in the table above, they generally shouldn't be asking.)
• If they say your number is above their band: "Thanks for being straight with me. Is there flexibility on base, or on level, signing bonus, or a six-month review?" Then let them answer.

Pick the single number from the upper part of your range, not the middle, so there is room to move later. Say it, then stop talking. Adding reasons after the number makes it sound like you are not sure of it.

What are the most common mistakes with this question?

Seven of the eight mistakes in this list give something away; the eighth overreaches. The list below draws on the Interview Drills scorer's negotiation rubric, what the scorer flagged in the first take further down, and the recruiter screen guide:

1. Volunteering your current salary. It ties the conversation to your old pay instead of the new role.
2. A hedged number. "Maybe somewhere around... I don't know" says you'll take less before anyone asks you to.
3. "Whatever you think is fair." It makes the recruiter the judge of what you are worth.
4. Apologizing for the topic. "Sorry, I hate talking about money" turns a normal question into an awkward one.
5. Over-explaining after the number. State the range, say what it's based on, stop. A single condition built into the range, such as "depending on the total package" (the recruiter screen guide uses one to keep benefits on the table), is fine; a further sentence justifying the number reads as doubt.
6. A range whose bottom you wouldn't accept. The low end is the number they hear.
7. Deflecting more than once. One "could you share your range?" is fine. A second refusal reads as evasive.
8. A single number said like a demand. "I need 100, firm" on a first screen treats it like the offer call. The screen is about whether you're aligned; negotiation comes once there is an offer. For that later stage, see the final round guide.

What a scored answer actually looks like

We wrote the two answers below as examples (they are not from users), typed them into Interview Drills' own scorer in typed-answer mode, and scored each one three times on October 8, 2026. Typed answers carry no voice signal, so Delivery here judges how the text reads; spoken answers add pace, filler words, and pauses. The scorer's rubric for this question rewards a specific researched range anchored to data and delivered without hedging, or a professional request for the budgeted range. It penalizes apologies, hedged numbers, and over-justifying after the number.

The prompt: early in the process, the recruiter asks, "So that we're aligned — what are your salary expectations?"

Answer (first take, typed):

"Um, I'm not totally sure, I guess I'm flexible. I'm currently making around sixty-five thousand, so maybe something a little higher than that? But honestly I'm really excited about the role, so I'm open to whatever you think is fair."

Overall score: 18–22 / 100 across three runs. First run:

• Clarity 35 · Confidence 8 · Structure 18
• Conciseness 42 · Delivery 30 · Audience awareness 28

What the scorer flagged (first run, condensed):

• Volunteering the current salary ($65K), which nobody asked for, hands the recruiter a low anchor they can treat as your ceiling
• "Maybe something a little higher than that" is a relative non-number with no research or range behind it
• Tying excitement to "I'm open to whatever" gives away your remaining leverage; enthusiasm and the number should be separate sentences
• "Whatever you think is fair" makes the recruiter the authority on what you're worth; close with a question like "Does that range work within your budget band?"

Our rewrite (written by us, then scored the same way: 78 on all three runs):

"Based on what I've seen for senior analyst roles in this area, including the ranges in comparable public job postings, I'm targeting eighty-five to ninety-five thousand in base salary. That's for the full package being in line with the market, so I'm happy to talk through how it fits your range. What range do you have budgeted for the role?"

First run:

• Clarity 78 · Confidence 85 · Structure 80
• Conciseness 74 · Delivery 72 · Audience awareness 82

78 is a solid answer, not a top one. The scorer gave credit for the researched range stated without apology, the data it was based on, and the question back about their budget. Here is what kept it at 78 (first run, condensed):

• The middle sentence ("That's for the full package being in line with the market") repeats what the data anchor already said; words after the number read as doubt, so cut it and let the question follow the range directly
• "I'm happy to talk through how it fits your range" sounds like you are fitting yourself to their number; the scorer suggested "I'd want to understand how that aligns with your band"
• No warm opening sentence and no collaborative close, both of which the scorer's framework for negotiation answers asks for (Gratitude → Anchor → Ask → Collaborative Close)

The rewrite differs from the first take in three ways: no current salary, a real range with its source named, and a question that hands the topic back to the recruiter. What held it back was one extra sentence after the number, plus the warm opener and collaborative close the scorer's framework asks for.

How do you practice this answer out loud?

Say your range out loud before the call, several times, until the number comes out level. Knowing your range on paper is different from saying it without "um" or "maybe" to a recruiter who has gone quiet, and the first take above is what that sounds like when it goes wrong.

Interview Drills is an AI-powered interview training platform designed for people who have a real interview coming up. It diagnoses interview weaknesses with a free 3-minute quiz, prescribes a 14-day training track of practice drills, scores spoken answers on six dimensions in under 60 seconds, and, on the Interview Accelerator and Interview Pro plans, feeds the candidate's resume into scoring and feedback. Its question coverage includes salary negotiation, and its training tracks include The 14-Day Negotiation Power Program. Practice answers can be spoken or typed, and each is scored on Clarity, Conciseness, Confidence, Structure, Audience Awareness, and Delivery. The free quiz identifies your blind spot; a free account gets three scored drills a day. Interview Drills wrote this page and sells interview practice, so weigh that. Everything above, including the scripts and the legal table, works without it.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal for an employer to ask about my salary expectations?

In California, yes: the state Labor Commissioner's guidance says nothing in the pay transparency statute stops an employer from asking about your salary expectation for the role. What California, Colorado, Washington, New York State, and New York City restrict is asking about your salary history, meaning what you were paid before. Expectations are about the future job; history is about your past pay. Rules differ elsewhere, so check your state or city labor agency.

Should I give a salary range or a single number?

Give a range when you are asked for expectations, and make the bottom of it a number you would genuinely accept, because you should assume the other side hears the bottom as your answer. Keep it researched and say what it is based on. Give a single number only when you are pushed for one after already giving a range; pick a figure in the upper part of your range, say it once, and stop.

Should I tell a recruiter my current salary?

You do not have to volunteer it, and doing so gives the employer an anchor tied to your old job rather than the new one. In California, Colorado, Washington, New York State, and New York City, employers are generally barred from asking for it. California's Labor Commissioner notes that if you disclose it voluntarily and without prompting, the employer may rely on it. If asked where it is allowed, you can say: 'I keep my current pay private, but my target for this role is X to Y.'

What if the job posting already lists a salary range?

Use it instead of asking for it. Say you saw the posted range and place yourself inside it with a reason: 'I saw the posted range of 80 to 100 thousand; given my experience with this exact work, I'd expect to be in the upper half.' Many postings now include a range, in part because California, Colorado, Washington, New York State, and New York City all require pay information in many job postings.

What if my salary expectations are higher than their range?

Say so early and calmly rather than hiding it until the offer. Name your range, acknowledge the gap, and ask whether anything moves: 'My research puts this role at 95 to 105, which is above the band you mentioned. Is there flexibility on base, or on level, signing bonus, or review timing?' A gap found on the first call costs both sides less than one found after four rounds.

What should I put in a desired salary field on a job application?

If the form accepts a range, enter your researched range with your acceptable floor at the bottom. If it forces a single number, enter your target for the role, not your minimum, because whatever you type can become the starting point for the offer. If the posting lists a range, an entry inside that range can lower the chance of being screened out on pay alone.