Most US job postings now include pay. On Indeed, the share of postings with at least some employer-provided salary information rose from 18.4% in February 2020 to 60% in February 2025. New York Fed analysis of Lightcast data puts the share of all US online postings with pay at about 53% since January 2024, versus roughly 15% before 2018. For employers, a job ad without pay is now the exception, and it competes against ads that answer the candidate’s first question up front.
Note on measures: Different datasets count “pay information” differently (any salary detail vs explicit wage or salary, one job board vs all online postings), so the figures below are not directly interchangeable. Each is labeled with its source.
How Has Salary Disclosure in Job Postings Changed Since 2020?
Salary disclosure has more than tripled in five years, driven largely by state pay transparency laws and by job boards encouraging or estimating pay.
| Date | Share of US postings with pay | Source and measure |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-2018 average | ~15% | NY Fed / Lightcast, all online postings |
| February 2020 | 18.4% | Indeed Hiring Lab, employer-provided pay |
| February 2023 | 43.7% | Indeed Hiring Lab |
| August 2023 | ~50% | Indeed Hiring Lab, via HR Dive |
| Since January 2024 | ~53% | NY Fed / Lightcast, all online postings |
| September 2024 | 57.8% | Indeed Hiring Lab, via HR Dive |
| February 2025 | 60% | Indeed Hiring Lab, at least some salary info |
Disclosure rose fastest in 2022 and 2023, when California, Washington, and New York laws took effect, and has grown more slowly since.
Which Jobs Are Most and Least Likely to Show Pay?
Hourly, frontline roles post pay most often. Senior professional and some clinical roles post it least.
| Occupation (Indeed, September 2024) | Share of postings with pay |
|---|---|
| Childcare | 81.7% |
| Personal care and home health | 74.5% |
| Security and public safety | 74.1% |
| Medical technicians | 44.6% |
| Physicians | 39.1% |
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab, reported by HR Dive.
Two patterns stand out. First, roles where candidates compare offers mostly on hourly wage show pay by default, because a missing wage loses the click. Second, disclosure has spread into white-collar work: Indeed reported that software development postings with pay jumped from 12.7% to 38.2% in a single year (2022 to 2023), and by May 2025 59% of all US postings included salary information, including 63% in software development and 62% in accounting.
How Do Pay Transparency Laws Change Disclosure?
Laws are the single biggest driver. Key findings from primary research:
- Immediate jump. In the month a pay transparency law took effect (Colorado, California, Washington, New York City), the share of covered postings with pay rose about 20 percentage points on average.
- Larger long-run effect. An NBER working paper found the laws raised the share of postings with salary by about 30 points, with Colorado moving from about 35% before its 2021 law to nearly 70% a year later.
- Compliance is not complete.About 24% of postings covered by these laws still lacked pay as of January 2025.
- Geography follows law. In 2023, all 10 of the most pay-transparent US metros were in states with transparency laws, while 18 of the 20 least transparent were in the South.
As of October 2026, 14 states plus Washington, DC require pay in job postings, with Delaware’s law set to take effect in September 2027. For the legal detail, see Joveo’s guide to pay transparency compliance in job ads.
Do Pay Ranges Get Wider When Disclosure Is Required?
A common worry is that employers respond to laws with meaninglessly wide ranges. The best evidence so far says no. The NBER study ruled out increases in range width above 1.5% and found posted wages rose 1.3% to 3.6% after laws took effect, with no measurable effect on employment or the number of postings. Separately, the NY Fed found about 15% of postings give a single pay figure rather than a range.
Does Including Salary Improve Job Ad Performance?
Platform data consistently points the same way, though methods are not always published, so treat these as directional:
- Indeed reports jobs with employer-provided salaries receive 3.8 times more applications.
- Indeed reports jobs with employer-provided salary received 5.1 times more impressions (January to March 2026), and indexed jobs listing salary, schedule, and benefits received 49% more apply starts (Q4 2025).
- Data reported by SHRM found ads with pay in the title had about 35% lower cost per click.
The mechanism is simple. Pay is the first filter most candidates apply, so an ad with pay earns more qualified clicks and fewer wasted ones. That shows up in apply rate and, in pay-per-click buying, in cost per applicant.
What Should Employers Do With This Data?
- Treat pay as a default ad field, not a legal exception. With a majority of competing ads showing pay, leaving it out is a visible disadvantage, even outside law states.
- Put pay where it is seen. Include it in the structured salary field of your feed (so it appears in Google for Jobs and job board filters) and in the ad copy. Avoid vague placeholders like “DOE.” See What Is DOE Pay?
- Benchmark by occupation. If 80% of childcare ads in your market show pay, your missing wage costs more there than in executive search.
- Measure the lift. Compare click-to-apply and cost per qualified applicant on ads with and without pay. See Recruitment Advertising Benchmarks 2026.
Joveo’s programmatic job advertising platform reads pay and other job attributes from your feed and optimizes distribution and bids across publishers toward the sources that deliver qualified applicants, so complete, competitive job data turns directly into better performance. Learn more in The Ultimate Guide to Programmatic Job Advertising.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of job postings include salary?
About 60% of US postings on Indeed included at least some salary information as of February 2025, up from 18.4% in February 2020. Across all US online postings, the New York Fed estimates about 53% since January 2024.
Which jobs are least likely to list pay?
In Indeed’s September 2024 data, physicians (39.1%) and medical technicians (44.6%) were among the least likely to show pay, while childcare (81.7%) was the most likely.
How many states require salary in job postings?
As of October 2026, 14 states plus Washington, DC require pay ranges in job postings, and Delaware’s law takes effect in September 2027.
Do pay transparency laws make salary ranges wider?
Research so far says no. An NBER study found no meaningful increase in range width after laws took effect.
Do job ads with salary get more applicants?
Platform data says yes. Indeed reports jobs with employer-provided salaries get 3.8 times more applications.
