How to find someone's salary

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Are you paid fairly? It’s socially unacceptable to ask people how much they earn, but there are ways to find someone else’s salary.

There is little more taboo in life than talking about trying to find out how much you earn, or how much someone else is making.

And if you just want to make sure you’re paid fairly, it certainly helps to know that your level or above coworkers are taking home on a weekly or monthly salary. After all, if you have more experience than your colleagues and perform at a higher level, you don’t want to be the lowest paying person in your office. And let’s be honest. In 2024, pay inequality remains a problem. Historically, women are fewer than men in so many fields of duty, even if they do similar jobs with the same amount of experience.

Of course, there are many other reasons you might want to find someone’s salary that has nothing to do with living on the noisy side of the road. Regardless of your motivation, here are some places where you can find salary information for millions of jobs, including those that are categorized as remote and that you can work from home.

1. OpenPayrolls

OpenPayrolls is billed as the largest national pay database with public pay records of over 100 million people by name, employer and position. Most people who work at public institutions such as state universities and public K-12 schools understand that pay is a matter of public records, but some are surprised to learn how long those records are hanging online.

2. GlassDoor.com

Whether you’re starting a job search in earnest or want to know what you can work for a particular company in a particular role, GlassDoor.com offers a wealth of real-world information from current and former employees from thousands of companies in the US and later. Glassdoor includes company reviews in addition to annual and hourly wage information, so you can better understand the quality of your benefits, including the company’s culture and everything from people who actually worked there, from health insurance and sick days to retirement plans, overtime pay, holiday benefits and other perks.

3. Certainly a salary search

According to the listed company, the company really offers payroll search. Many job descriptions do not include payroll information, but it explains that “it is sufficient enough to generate statistically significant pay for millions of keywords, positions and location combinations.”

In fact, the salary search index is automatically updated every 24 hours with new payroll data, so the results are up to date.

4. Transparent California

From the head football coach at the University of California to the fire chief in Long Beach, California’s transparent California breaks down overtime, other salaries and benefits for approximately 35 million state workers in California. The group’s mission is to provide a comprehensive database of public wage information (from public employers) to help provide government transparency. California is also one of the states currently paying for transparency laws.

5. PAYSCALE

Those who complete the online payroll survey will receive a report showing how their pay is compared to others with similar education, work experience and skills. How can it help? Maybe you are considering moving and want to see how moving to another area (having different living expenses) will affect your income. You can also conduct career surveys in a variety of jobs (by state or sector) and look into detailed payroll data here.

6. Kanding (formerly Guidestar)

If you’re interested in how much CEOs and other C-Sweet-level leaders make in US nonprofits, then there’s a straightforward answer. Candid, formerly known as Guidestar, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2019 when Guidestar and Foundation Center merged. The company uses data on employee wages drawn from the IRS 990 form. Most information is freely reviewable, but Candid requires you to sign in to your visitors before you can access certain data. The company is also preparing an annual nonprofit compensation report that provides details on executive salaries at nonprofits across the country.

Woman working remotely from a cafe, sitting at a table near the window, using laptop and mobile phone.

7. Recruitment

If your own company is employed, one way to see how much they pay for new workers is to check out the jobs listed on the company’s website. If pay details are not included – so far, only around 12 states have paid positive transparency laws on books, but in reality you can also search for the location of employment websites such as Glassdoor, Monster, and more. Also, don’t forget that you can explore on LinkedIn to see if the job is listed there.

8. Your HR department

People who work in HR may be able to provide more insight into the pay range of their jobs than you think. Sometimes they can only leak certain information if it is requested. So, if your company has an open position you want to know more, start by calling or by visiting HR. You may also learn how much you can earn in your current position and how much you can earn other roles that are more than one or two more than your current role.

9. A state with transparent wage law

Almost 12 states are now paying transparency laws for books as they try to create a more level playing field, to ensure they are free from discrimination and to ensure workers are fairly compensated. The following states require employers to provide access to payroll information: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Minnesota recently passed the Wage Transparency Act, which will take effect on January 1, 2025. Other states, counties and cities in the US, including New York City, are considering whether they have a pay transparency law in 2024.