Salary Negotiation: Scripts, Data and a Plan for 2026

Salary negotiation works more often than people expect, and most people still do not try. In a Pew Research Center survey of 5,188 US workers, only 32% of men and 28% of women said they asked for more than the first offer the last time they were hired. Of those who asked, about two thirds got more money. A randomized field experiment with tech job seekers found that those who countered raised their pay by about 12.45% on average. This guide gives you the evidence, a way to set your number, scripts you can copy for email, phone and application forms, and two things most guides skip: the pay-range laws that now put numbers on postings in 14 states and DC, and what the H-1B wage levels mean for the floor of an offer that depends on sponsorship.

What the evidence says about asking

Two sources are worth more than the rest: Pew's survey uses a probability sample of US workers, and the field experiment is randomized, so it can say what countering causes.

Pew: who asks, and what happens. Among workers who are not self-employed:

Add the first two outcome rows and about 66% of people who asked came away with more (our arithmetic). The discomfort figure is highest among the young: 46% of non-askers aged 18 to 29 said they did not feel comfortable asking, against 19% of those 65 and older.

The field experiment: what countering is worth. Zoë Cullen, Bobak Pakzad-Hurson and Ricardo Perez-Truglia ran two experiments with "over 3,100 job seekers in the U.S. tech sector", recruited through the salary site levels.fyi between 2023 and 2025 (NBER working paper 33903). A light-touch message telling some participants that companies expect you to negotiate raised the share who countered from 54% to 61%. According to UCLA Anderson Review's summary, "the individuals who countered experienced an average increase in compensation terms of about 12.45%", which for that sample "equates to an average $27,000 annually over the initial offer."

Two cautions. The sample was tech workers earning around $217,000 to $221,000 a year, so the dollar figure will not carry over to a $60,000 role. And the fear of losing the offer is not imaginary: some participants said it had happened. But the same summary cites a 2024 literature review that found "managers withdrew offers after counters far, far less often than job candidates believe they do."

A small raise at the start also compounds. A $5,000 higher starting salary, with 3% raises a year applied to it, adds up to about $57,000 over ten years (our arithmetic, assuming the raises are a percentage of base).

Before you negotiate: your number, your range, your walk-away

Decide three numbers before the call, and write them down.

1. Target. What the role pays in your city at your level. Use the posted range if there is one, then check it against public data. The Department of Labor publishes four wage levels for every occupation in every metro area for the H-1B and green card programs, and anyone can look them up. The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics tables give the median and percentiles for the same occupations.
2. Ask. A specific number at or a little above your target, with a reason tied to the role. Make it precise ("$94,500", not "$95,000"). In lab negotiation studies at Columbia, people who received a precise first offer adjusted their counteroffer less than those who received a round one, and assumed the person making a precise offer was better informed (Mason, Lee, Wiley and Ames, 2013).
3. Walk-away. The lowest offer you would accept, counting everything: bonus, equity, benefits, commute, remote days and how much you need the job. You do not say this number out loud. If the final offer stays below it, our guide to declining a job offer has the emails.

Here is a worked sample, using real Department of Labor figures and an invented offer. For data scientists (occupation code 15-2051) in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, the July 2026 to June 2027 wage levels are $36.39, $47.74, $59.09 and $70.44 an hour, or about $75,691, $99,299, $122,907 and $146,515 a year at 2,080 hours (OFLC wage data). Say a new graduate is offered $92,000. That sits between Level I and Level II. A target of $99,500, just over Level II, is grounded in a public number the recruiter can check. The walk-away might be the offer itself, if it is the only one.

Scripts: the email counter, the phone counter, asking for more time

Every script below was written for this post. Change the details and keep the shape: thanks, enthusiasm, one number, one reason, an open question.

The email counter (sample).

Hi Dana,

Thank you for the offer for the Data Analyst role. I'm excited about the team and the work on the forecasting platform, and I want to make this work.

Based on the scope we discussed, including owning the weekly forecast pipeline, and on market data for this role in Dallas, I'd like to ask for a base salary of $99,500. If we can get there, I'm ready to sign this week.

Is there flexibility on base?

Best, Sam

The phone counter (sample). Say the number, then stop talking.

"Thank you, I'm really glad to get this. I want to say yes. The one thing I'd like to talk about is base salary. Given the scope of the role and what this position pays in Dallas, I was expecting something closer to $99,500. Is there room to move?"

If they say the base is fixed: "I understand. Is there flexibility on a signing bonus or the start date instead?"

If they ask for time to check: "Of course. When should I expect to hear back?"

Asking for more time (sample).

"Thank you for the offer. I'm very interested, and I want to give it the attention it deserves. I'm finishing another interview process that should conclude next week. Could I have until Friday the 24th to give you my answer?"

Only say there is another process if there is one. A specific date is easier to grant than "a little more time".

The salary field and the recruiter screen. Some application forms will not submit without a desired salary. If the posting lists a range, enter a number in its top half or near your target. On a recruiter screen, a sample answer: "Based on what I've seen for this role in this market, I'm looking at $95,000 to $105,000 base, depending on the full package. What's the range you have budgeted?" Our guide to what is your desired salary covers both in detail.

Beyond base pay: signing bonus, start date, relocation, equity

When base is fixed, other terms often are not. Ask for one or two, not the list.

Get every agreed change in the written offer. Read the signing bonus terms for a repayment clause if you leave early. Our signing bonus guide explains clawbacks and taxes.

Negotiating with one offer as a new grad

Most new graduates have one offer and a deadline. NACE, the association of college recruiters, puts the average time between offer and student response at 11 days in its 2026 benchmarks. That is enough for one polite counter and an answer.

Without a competing offer, your leverage is the employer's own interest in closing, plus public data. Use both:

• Lead with how much you want the job, so the counter reads as a step toward yes.
• Use one number from public data, such as the posted range or the DOL wage level for the occupation and city.
• Pick one ask. For many new-grad programs base is set by a band, so ask once about base and then move to a signing bonus or start date.
• Never invent a competing offer.

A sample for this case:

"Thank you, I'm excited to accept. Before I do, I wanted to ask whether there is any flexibility on base. Market data for this role in Austin puts it a bit higher, around $100,000. If base is set for the new-grad class, would a signing bonus be possible?"

The best fix for having one offer is having two at the same time. Applying early to fresh postings, in a short burst rather than a trickle, starts several processes close together so their offers have a chance to overlap. Our guides on how many applications it takes to get a job and job search strategy cover the volume and timing. ApplyEze is one way to do that: it watches the career boards of more than 100,000 employers directly, keeps matching new postings to your profile through the day, and applies to the matches you queue on the 12 platforms it supports, with a resume built for each posting and a cover letter when the form asks. New accounts get 50 free credits, once per email address, with no card, and plans are listed at $19 a month for 700 applications and $99 a month for 3,000. It does not negotiate for you, and how many offers you get still depends on you.

Offers tied to sponsorship: what the wage floor means

This section is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your situation with the employer's immigration counsel or your own attorney.

The H-1B floor. An H-1B employer must pay "the higher of the prevailing wage or the employer's actual wage", meaning what it pays others in the same job (DOL Wage and Hour Fact Sheet 62G). The prevailing wage comes from four levels set for each occupation and area, approximately the 17th, 34th, 50th and 67th percentiles of the local wage distribution (91 FR 15454). The floor is a minimum, not a market rate. Nothing stops you asking for more.

Why the level now matters for the lottery. DHS's weighted selection rule, final on 29 December 2025 and effective 27 February 2026, changed the cap lottery from FY2027. A registration is assigned "the highest wage level that the proffered salary would equal or exceed" for the occupation and area, and Level IV registrations are entered four times, Level III three, Level II twice and Level I once. In the first weighted lottery, the lowest wage level made up only 17.8% of selections, according to the administration's figures in Proclamation 11069. So for a cap-subject offer, a raise that crosses a level line can double your entries. Using the Dallas data scientist levels above:

Look up your own occupation and metro in the OFLC wage search. Three caveats. The employer picks the occupation code and worksite, which set the table, so ask which they plan to use. The levels change every July. And the Department of Labor proposed on 27 March 2026 to raise the floors, "for Wage Level I from the 17th percentile to the 34th percentile" and the other levels with it; no final rule had been published by 18 October 2026.

STEM OPT. On the 24-month STEM extension, the "duties, hours, and compensation" must be "commensurate with terms and conditions applicable to the employer's similarly situated U.S. workers in the area of employment" (8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C)). An offer well below what the employer pays US colleagues in the same role is a compliance question for the employer, not just a negotiation point.

Fees, as of 18 October 2026. The $100,000 payment on certain new H-1B petitions (Proclamation 10973, extended to 21 September 2027) does not apply to a change of status granted inside the US, such as F-1 to H-1B (USCIS), and a federal court vacated the implementing guidance on 8 June 2026; Yale's international office reported on 23 September 2026 that "the agency is not currently collecting this fee" while appeals continue (Yale OISS). Separately, DHS proposed a $103,265 fee for cap-subject petitions on 25 August 2026 (91 FR 54817); it is not in effect. Our list of companies that sponsor H-1B shows who files the most petitions.

Posted pay ranges and pay-transparency laws

As of October 2026, 14 states and Washington DC require many employers to put a pay range in the job posting itself, and Delaware joins in September 2027. We checked each one against the statute or the state labor agency's own page. A range on the posting is the best negotiating data you will get, because it is the employer's own number.

New York City has had its own rule since 1 November 2022, covering employers with four or more employees and jobs done in the city "whether from an office, in the field, or remotely from the employee's home" (NYC Commission on Human Rights).

Remote jobs are often covered. California's Labor Commissioner says the pay scale must be posted "if the position may ever be filled in California, either in-person or remotely" (DIR), and Colorado says a remote posting is covered "even if it says Coloradans won't be considered" (CDLE guidance). So a remote job from an employer anywhere may show a range because of these states.

How to use a posted range in a negotiation:

• Treat it as the band, not the offer. If your experience matches everything in the posting, including the preferred qualifications, ask for the upper half and say why.
• Quote it back. "The posting lists $90,000 to $110,000. Given that I meet the preferred qualifications too, I'd like to be at $104,000" (sample).
• Watch for very wide ranges. Ask the recruiter what the range is for your level.
• Do not volunteer your current pay. Several of these laws also bar employers from asking for salary history, among them California, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut and Washington DC, according to the same statutes and agency pages.

When not to push

Negotiating is usually safe. A few situations call for a lighter touch or none:

• Published pay scales. Many government, union and academic jobs pay on a fixed schedule. Ask about the step or grade you are placed at, not the number.
• "Best and final." The Anderson Review summary notes reports that some employers began calling first offers "best and final" to head off negotiation. Take that at face value once, then ask about non-salary terms.
• After you accept. Negotiate before you sign, not after.
• After they meet your number. If they give you what you asked for, say yes. A second counter on the same item reads as bad faith.
• Verbal offers. About 40% of offers in the field experiment were verbal, which the authors note lets an employer quietly withhold the written offer. Ask for the offer in writing before you counter, and counter in writing. If an offer is pulled anyway, see what to do when an offer is rescinded.
• When you need the job more than the money. If the offer is above your walk-away and you have no alternative, one polite ask is plenty.