Does listing salary ranges increase qualified applicants?
Mystery pay ranges filter out your best candidates first.
Visible salary bands are commonly associated with a 15–30% relative increase in qualified applicants per role.
Study
hr
If you…
Publish salary band on public job postings
Then…
Qualified applicants per opening → +15–30%
Context
US job boards post-pay-transparency laws, 2023–2025
What changes
Visible salary bands are commonly associated with a 15–30% relative increase in qualified applicants per role.
When this tends to work
- Conditions similar to: US job boards post-pay-transparency laws, 2023–2025
- You can measure
Qualified applicants per openingreliably - The intervention is implemented consistently, not half-measured
When to be careful
- Your audience or product differs materially from the cited context
- Compliance costs or second-order effects outweigh the lift
- Evidence label is study—treat wide ranges as planning bands, not promises
Practical takeaway
Use the cited range for prioritization and test design. Verify against your own data before scaling.
