Salary Range Best Practices Across Multiple States

One of the most common questions from HR teams navigating the pay transparency landscape is also the most practical: "How do I write a salary range that satisfies every state law we're subject to without creating a dozen different posting templates?" The answer is simpler than most teams expect: satisfy Colorado and Washington, and you automatically satisfy every other active US state law.

The Colorado-Washington standard: the universal template

Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA) and Washington's SB 5761 are consistently the most demanding US state pay transparency laws. Between them, they require:

• Salary range: A minimum and maximum base salary or hourly rate (both states)
• Benefits description: A general description of all benefits offered, including health care, retirement, paid time off, and any other material benefits (both states)
• Bonus and commission disclosure: A description of any variable compensation, including bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing, or equity (both states)

Every other active US state law requires only a salary range — which is already included in the Colorado/Washington template. Build your posting template to satisfy Colorado and Washington, deploy it everywhere, and you're covered across all 15+ active jurisdictions simultaneously.

What makes a range "good faith"

All active state laws require the disclosed range to be a "good faith" estimate. Understanding what this means in practice is critical to avoiding enforcement issues even when you're technically disclosing a range.

The range must reflect genuine intent. Post the compensation range you'd actually offer to a qualified candidate — not the widest possible range that technically includes the number you'd pay. If your budget is $90K–$110K for a particular role, post $90K–$110K. Posting $70K–$150K is not good faith.

Width matters. The NYC DCWP has indicated that ranges wider than approximately 35% of the midpoint raise good faith questions. A $100K midpoint implies a range no wider than approximately $85K–$115K for good faith compliance. Wider ranges will attract enforcement scrutiny, particularly from New York City regulators who have been most active in investigating range quality.

Ranges should be updated when circumstances change. If the hiring budget for a role changes significantly after the posting goes live, the range should be updated. Stale ranges that no longer reflect current intent are a compliance risk.

Benefits disclosure: what's required and how to write it

Colorado and Washington require a benefits description — and "competitive benefits package" is explicitly non-compliant in Colorado following CDLE guidance updates in 2026. The description must be specific enough to give candidates a genuine understanding of what's offered.

A compliant benefits description might read: "Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance (employer covers 80% of premium for employee), 401(k) with 4% employer match, flexible PTO, and annual professional development budget of $1,500." This is specific, honest, and directly informative to candidates.

You do not need to include the dollar value of every benefit. But you do need to name the material benefits — health insurance, retirement, equity if offered, notable perks — rather than using catch-all phrases.

Hourly roles and wage scales

For hourly roles, Colorado and Washington require disclosure of the hourly wage range. For roles without a fixed range — for example, where pay is determined by a union wage schedule or a government pay scale — you may reference the applicable scale if it's publicly accessible. For most private-sector hourly roles, however, a genuine min-max range is required.

Washington's law has more flexibility than Colorado for roles where the range is driven by a "wage scale" (a classification system rather than a role-specific band). If your company uses job grades with associated wage bands, Washington accepts disclosure of the applicable grade's wage band.

Commission and variable compensation

For commission-only or heavily commission-weighted roles, Colorado and Washington require disclosure of the commission structure or OTE (on-target earnings) range. A compliant disclosure might be: "OTE $100K–$140K, with base salary of $60K and uncapped commission." This gives candidates the information they need to evaluate the role without requiring you to reveal your entire compensation philosophy.

For roles with discretionary bonuses, the disclosure should describe the bonus program generally: "Eligible for annual performance bonus; bonus targets range from 10–20% of base salary based on individual and company performance." Exact past bonus amounts are not required.

Remote roles: which state's requirements apply?

For remote roles where candidates from multiple states may apply, you need to satisfy the requirements of every active jurisdiction where a candidate could reasonably reside. In practice, for a nationally posted remote role, this means:

• Salary range (all active states)
• Benefits description (Colorado, Washington)
• Bonus disclosure (Colorado, Washington)

This is the same as the Colorado/Washington template — so the universal approach handles remote roles automatically. See our remote work compliance guide for a complete analysis of multi-state exposure.

The EU Directive: what changes for EU postings

For roles posted in EU member states or accessible to EU residents, the EU Pay Transparency Directive adds two requirements beyond typical US state laws: no salary history questions (a ban, not just a limitation), and the salary range must be included even for internal postings and promotions. The EU Directive guide covers these requirements in detail.

Practical posting template

Here's what a fully compliant posting closing section looks like for a US company posting a remote role nationally:

Base salary: $90,000–$115,000 annually, depending on experience and qualifications. Eligible for annual performance bonus (10–15% of base, depending on individual and company performance). Benefits include: medical, dental, and vision insurance (employer covers 80% of employee premium), 401(k) with 4% employer match, unlimited PTO, $2,000 annual learning and development budget, and home office stipend of $500/year. We are an equal opportunity employer.

This template satisfies Colorado, Washington, NYC, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and every other active US state law, plus the EU Directive's salary disclosure requirements.