What We Found
Job Seeker Salary Expectations in Q4 2017
$25-$40K | $40-$75K | $75-$100K | $100-$150K | $150-$200K | $200K+ | |
National | 10% | 26% | 24% | 23% | 11% | 6% |
Northeast | 9% | 25% | 21% | 23% | 13% | 9% |
Midwest | 13% | 30% | 23% | 21% | 8% | 4% |
South | 14% | 29% | 23% | 21% | 9% | 4% |
West | 8% | 23% | 25% | 24% | 13% | 7% |
Salaries Offered By Hiring Managers in Q4 2017
$25-$40K | $40-$75K | $75-$100K | $100-$150K | $150-$200K | $200K+ | |
National | 18% | 24% | 27% | 19% | 6% | 5% |
Northeast | 10% | 17% | 26% | 28% | 4% | 11% |
Midwest | 19% | 28% | 33% | 12% | 4% | 2% |
South | 28% | 23% | 18% | 13% | 10% | 3% |
West | 17% | 24% | 25% | 18% | 7% | 5% |
Not surprisingly, job seekers nationally feel they are worth more than what hiring managers are willing to pay. The discrepency is particularly noticeable within the six figure income ranges. Conversely, there are more hiring managers willing to pay the lowest salary range ($25k – $40k) than there are job seekers willing to work for those amounts. A sweet spot for workers nationally is the $75k – $100k range where there are a higher percentage of hiring managers willing to pay that amount versus the percentage of workers seeking that amount.
Regionally, a few statistics that stand out include: 1). A large discrepency within the South and West where hiring managers have a high percentage of low-end salary positions available vs. the number of job seekers willing to work for those amounts ($25k – $40k). 2). The Northeast has the highest percentage of hiring managers offering six-figure positions (43%) which mirrored exactly the percentage of job seekers having those expectations (43%). 3). Six figure income expectations for job seekers in the West (44%) far exceeds what is actually being offered by $25-$40khiring managers within the region (30%). 4). The economies (cost of living) of both the Northeast and West demand that hiring managers offer (and job seekers request) a higher salary than $25-$40k. Both regions have the lowest percentage of job seekers willing to earn $25-$40k, and the least number of hiring managers posting jobs within this pay range.
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Comparing 2016 to 2017
Job Seeker Salary Expectations Q4 2016 vs. Q4 2017 (% YOY change)
$25-$40K | $40-$75K | $75-$100K | $100-$150K | $150-$200K | $200K+ | |
Northeast | +5% | – | (2%) | +1% | – | (1%) |
Midwest | +7% | +1% | (3%) | (3%) | (1%) | (1%) |
South | +8% | (1%) | (3%) | (3%) | (1%) | (1%) |
West | +3% | (1%) | – | (2%) | – | (1%) |
Salaries Offered by Hiring Managers in Q4 2016 vs. Q4 2017 (% YOY change)
$25-$40K | $40-$75K | $75-$100K | $100-$150K | $150-$200K | $200K+ | |
Northeast | +2% | (14%) | +4% | (3%) | +2% | +5% |
Midwest | (1%) | (9%) | +8% | (5%) | +4% | +2% |
South | +8% | (20%) | +1% | (3%) | +8% | +2% |
West | +1% | (2%) | (1%) | (1%) | (1%) | – |
What We Found
We looked at how salary expectations have shifted over the past year by comparing our Q4 2016 results to the Q4 2017 results. As you can see, there are a few interesting trends among both what job seekers expect to earn and what hiring managers (companies) are willing to offer. 1). Although job seeker salary expectations typically outpace what hiring managers are willing to offer, a higher percentage of job seekers across all four regions seemed to have resigned themselves to earning the lowest salary range ($25k-$40k). Among all salary ranges, this lower end salary was the only range to show a net increase across all four regions. 2). All four regions show significant changes in the $40k-$75k range. This change appears to have impacted the salary ranges at both extremes (more lower end salaries offered AND more higher end salaries offered) – suggesting perhaps a loss in the availability of many middle class jobs at these levels and a re-llocation of these monies to less higher paying jobs.(1) Salary Range Categories: $25,000 – $40,000; $40,000 – $75,000; $75,000 – $100,000; $100,000 – $150,000; $150,000 – $200,000, $200,000+
Datasource: Opportunity
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