The single biggest mistake candidates make in salary negotiation is anchoring to the wrong number. 'I was making X at my last job' is a weak anchor. 'The market rate for this level at this company in this location is Y' is a strong one. Building that strong anchor requires data — and in 2026, more high-quality salary data is available for free than most people realise. This guide covers every major free source, what each one is best for, and how to triangulate across them to arrive at a defensible, accurate range.
1. Levels.fyi — The Gold Standard for Tech Total Compensation
Levels.fyi is the most accurate free source for total compensation at technology companies. Unlike Glassdoor (which typically shows base salary only), Levels.fyi captures total comp: base + bonus + equity (RSUs or options). All submissions are self-reported and include the level/band, which is essential context that generic salary databases omit.
Go to levels.fyi and select your company
Search for the company and navigate to the Salaries tab. You'll see a breakdown by level (L3, L4, L5 at Google; E3–E7 at Meta; ICT3–ICT6 at Apple, etc.).
Filter by level, location, and role
Use the filters to narrow by your target level (or the level being offered), the specific office location, and the exact role type. Compensation varies significantly between San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and remote.
Look at the last 12 months only
Equity markets have moved significantly. Use the date filter to restrict to the most recent year. Older data reflects different stock prices and grant levels.
Note the full TC range, not just the median
The 25th–75th percentile range is your negotiation zone. The median is your target floor. Exceptional candidates can target the 75th+ with competing offers.
Levels.fyi is best for: Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Stripe, Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Salesforce, and major tech employers
For non-tech industries or smaller companies, Levels.fyi coverage drops off. Use the other sources below for finance, consulting, healthcare, and startups.
2. H1B Salary Database — Legally Filed, Role-Specific Base Salaries
When US employers sponsor H1B visas, they are legally required to file the prevailing wage with the Department of Labor — including the employer name, job title, location, and offered salary. This data is public and available for free. It's the most precise free source for base salaries because these are actual numbers filed in legal documents, not self-reported estimates.
- Go to h1bdata.info or flcdatacenter.com (the DOL's official database). Search by employer name and job title.
- Note: H1B filings use non-standardised job titles. Search for multiple variations ('Software Engineer', 'Software Development Engineer', 'Software Engineer II') to get complete coverage.
- Filter by the most recent fiscal year. Remember there is a lag — the FY2025 data reflects offers made in 2024.
- H1B data shows the prevailing wage floor — what the employer certified they'd pay. Actual offers are often higher. Treat this as a minimum benchmark, not a target.
- Cross-reference against Levels.fyi to see total comp. The gap between H1B base and Levels.fyi total comp shows you how large the equity and bonus components are.
3. Glassdoor Salaries — Broad Coverage Across All Industries
Glassdoor is the most widely used salary database and has the broadest industry coverage. Its weakness is that it shows base salary only and uses job title strings that aren't standardised — 'Senior Software Engineer' at one company may be a very different level than at another. Use it for industries and roles not well covered by Levels.fyi.
| Glassdoor Feature | Useful? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary by company + title | Yes | Good for non-tech, healthcare, finance, government roles |
| Total comp estimate | Partially | Often incomplete — bonus data is inconsistently reported |
| Pay equity breakdown by gender/ethnicity | Interesting | Sample sizes are often too small to be statistically meaningful |
| Benefits rating | Yes | Useful qualitative signal for comparing offers holistically |
| Interview experience reports | Very useful | Often includes actual questions and difficulty ratings |
4. Blind — Anonymous, Real-Time Tech Comp Sharing
Blind is an anonymous professional network where tech employees share compensation openly. The data is more current than any structured database (threads often appear within days of offer letters), and because posters are verified employees, the numbers tend to be accurate. The limitation is that it's unstructured — you have to search and read threads rather than filter a database.
- Search '[Company name] [Level] comp' on Blind — e.g., 'Google L5 comp 2025' or 'Meta E6 total compensation'.
- Read recent threads (last 3–6 months). Posters typically share base, bonus, and RSU grant with their location and years of experience.
- Pay attention to offer vintage — equity refresh rates and stock prices change, so a grant from 18 months ago is worth a different amount today.
- Use Blind for offer validation ('Is this a strong L5 offer?') — the community is experienced at benchmarking and will tell you honestly.
5. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics
The BLS OES data (bls.gov/oes) covers median wages for hundreds of occupations across all US metro areas. It's not useful for technology company negotiations (too aggregated), but it's the best free source for roles in non-tech industries: healthcare, education, government, non-profit, and traditional finance.
BLS data: use it for context, not anchoring
BLS figures are national medians and tend to lag the market by 12–18 months. They're useful for understanding whether you're in a high-paying or low-paying sub-sector, but not precise enough to anchor a negotiation.
6. How to Triangulate Across Sources
No single source is complete. The right approach is to triangulate: pull data from 2–3 sources and identify the overlap. Here's a practical workflow:
- Start with Levels.fyi for the total comp picture at your target company (if it's a tech or tech-adjacent employer).
- Cross-check H1B data for the base salary component — this tells you whether the base in your offer is within normal range.
- Search Blind for recent threads about the exact level and company you're discussing.
- If you have a competing offer, that's your strongest anchor — not any database number. 'I have a competing offer at $X total comp' resets the entire conversation.
- Build a range: your target (75th percentile), your goal (median), and your floor (25th percentile or your current comp, whichever is higher). Enter the negotiation knowing all three.