How to Answer 'What Are Your Salary Expectations?'

The core principle: whoever names a number first usually loses some negotiating room, so the goal is to deflect once genuinely, then answer with a well-researched range if pushed — never a single number, and never a number you haven't researched.

The deflection, done right

'I'd love to learn more about the full scope of the role first before landing on a number — can you share the budgeted range for this position?' This is a completely normal, professional response, and most experienced interviewers expect it. It's not evasive or awkward if delivered calmly and once — the mistake is deflecting repeatedly when they clearly want an answer, which starts to read as difficult rather than savvy.

If they push back and ask again

Give a researched range, not a single number, and anchor it slightly above your actual minimum: 'Based on my research for this role and my experience level, I'm looking at a range of $X to $Y.' Research the range beforehand using sites like Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, and Payscale, cross-referenced — a single source can be skewed. Set your range's low end at the true minimum you'd accept, not a number you hope sounds modest; giving a range you wouldn't actually accept the bottom of wastes everyone's time.

If you're asked to give a number before an offer stage

It's increasingly common (and in some US states legally required for the employer to share a range upfront) for salary expectations to come up on a first screening call, before you've even met the hiring manager. Same principle applies — deflect once toward their range, then give a researched range if pushed, rather than a single figure this early in the process, when you have the least leverage and the least information about the actual role's full scope.

Never lie about your current salary, but you don't have to volunteer it

In many US states and countries, employers are legally barred from asking your current salary at all — know your local law. Where it's still asked, you're not obligated to answer with a specific figure even if the law doesn't explicitly forbid the question; a polite redirect ('I'd prefer to focus on the value I'd bring to this specific role and its market rate') is a reasonable, common response.

The number you give will likely become your anchor — pick it carefully

Whatever range you state tends to become the working anchor for the rest of the negotiation, even at offer stage. This is exactly why research matters more here than almost anywhere else in the job search — a range set too low based on outdated or wrong data can cost you real money for the entire tenure of the role, since future raises are typically percentage-based off your starting number.