You can see a job's pay range before you apply in New York, California, and Colorado, under state pay-transparency laws passed since 2021 — though the ranges are estimates, not guarantees. Women working full time earned 82.7 percent of men's median weekly pay in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The laws were built to give job seekers a starting number instead of a guess. They do not set wages, audit past pay practices, or guarantee that the number posted is the number offered. What they do is put a figure on the table before a candidate has spent time in an interview process without one — a shift that changes how a negotiation can start, even if it does not by itself close a gap that has held near this range for over a decade.
How do pay-transparency laws actually work?
A pay-transparency law requires an employer to disclose a wage or salary range, and sometimes benefits, in a job posting before a candidate applies. New York's statewide law, in effect since September 17, 2023, requires employers with four or more employees to list the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly rate they believe in good faith they will pay, and to say whether a role is commission-based, according to a statement from Gov. Kathy Hochul's office.
Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, in effect since January 1, 2021, goes further on scope: it applies to employers of any size operating in the state and requires both a compensation range and a general description of benefits in every job posting, per the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. California's Senate Bill 1162, effective January 1, 2023, requires employers to include the pay scale in job postings, share it with current employees on request, and keep job title and wage-history records for three years after employment ends, according to a University of California, Irvine policy summary of the law.
Which states require pay ranges, and how do the rules differ?
The three laws share a core requirement — a posted range — but differ on who is covered and what else must be disclosed. None of them require an employer to hire within the posted range, and none creates a private right to a specific offer.
| State | Effective date | Employers covered | What must be posted |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | September 17, 2023 | 4 or more employees | Minimum and maximum salary or hourly rate; commission-based status |
| Colorado | January 1, 2021 | No size threshold specified in the statute | Compensation range and a general description of benefits |
| California | January 1, 2023 | Not specified by employer size in the policy reviewed | Pay scale; disclosed to current employees on request; wage records kept three years |
A New York business group warned at the time the state law took effect that compliance would be uneven, telling Fortune it expected "a lot of unintentional noncompliance" as smaller employers remained unaware the requirement existed. A National Women's Law Center official told the outlet the underlying demand was straightforward: workers want to know the range before they apply.
How wide is the pay gap these laws are meant to address?
Women who worked full time had median weekly earnings of $1,043 in 2024, compared with $1,261 for men — 82.7 percent of men's earnings, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Highlights of Women's Earnings report. The gap is not flat across a career. Women ages 16 to 24 earned 91.1 percent of what men in that age group earned in 2024; women ages 55 to 64 earned 76.6 percent, the widest gap of any age bracket the report tracks.
The gap also varies by field. In management, business, and financial occupations — among the highest-paying categories the report breaks out — women earned 79.9 percent of men's median weekly pay in 2024, $1,523 versus $1,906, according to the same BLS data. A posted range does not erase that difference. It does give a candidate a documented number to negotiate against, in fields where the gap has historically been hardest to see from outside a company.
How can you use a posted pay range to negotiate?
A posted range is a starting document, not a final offer. The following steps use only what the law already requires an employer to disclose.
- Read the range as a floor-to-ceiling estimate, not a promise. New York's law requires only that the range reflect what an employer believes in good faith it will pay — it can still change during hiring.
- Anchor your ask above the midpoint, not the minimum. A posted range gives a documented ceiling; opening below it forfeits information the law was written to hand you.
- Ask what moves a candidate toward the top of the range. In states like Colorado, the posting must also describe benefits — factor that into a full-compensation comparison, not salary alone.
- Request the range in writing if a posting omits it. California's law entitles current employees to the pay scale for their role on request; job seekers in covered states can ask recruiters directly before an interview.
- Compare the range to public wage data for the role and region. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes occupational earnings data that can confirm whether a posted range is in line with the broader market.
What are the limits of pay transparency?
None of the three laws examined here requires an employer to close a pay gap, correct past underpayment, or hire at any specific point in the posted range. They require disclosure at the point of posting — nothing more. Enforcement also varies by state, and business groups have flagged uneven compliance as the rules are new enough that many employers are still adjusting, per Fortune's reporting on New York's rollout.
The broader pay gap the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks has moved only modestly since 2010, staying in roughly the 81-to-84-percent range for over a decade even as more states adopted disclosure rules. A posted number changes what a candidate can ask for. It does not by itself change what an employer decides to pay.
For more context, read What pay-transparency laws changed in their first five years.