Pay by Role
Real salary numbers for the city you live in.
Compare salaries by role and place across 17 countries and 418 cities. We publish national medians from public labour-market sources and city pages only when we have observed metro percentiles — then help you translate gross pay into take-home and cost-of-living context.
Public labour-market data · Updated November 2026
A research tool, not a job board
Pay by Role is for people who already have an offer, a city, or a career question and need to place the cash in context. We publish original guides on reading percentiles, take-home pay, and negotiation; calculators that convert gross into net, hourly, and cost-of-living sketches; and country reports backed by public labour-market sources.
For major markets we publish observed city salary pages — pay range, take-home, and cost of living — for high-intent roles. Other combinations stay on the site as research views, so a lookup does not require a thin article for every city and job.
Figures are estimates, labelled when a city range is observed metro data versus a modeled national adjustment. They are not employer offers. Read the disclaimer and methodology before you treat a chart as a decision.
Popular salaries
Latest guides
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- 13th-month pay by country: who gets it, when it’s paid and how it’s taxed
- The 183-day rule: tax residency for remote workers and nomads
- Currency exchange and your salary: how FX affects real earnings
Guides
Original articles on reading pay data, comparing offers, and using the calculators without fooling yourself.
- How Pay by Role sources salary dataHow Pay by Role sources salary data: observed vs modeled city pay, public labour-market APIs, and why uncovered country–job medians are never invented.
- How to read a salary range (p10, median, and p90)Learn how to read a salary range: what p10, median, and p90 mean, how to place an offer, and the mistakes that make a wide band look like a promise.
- Salary vs cost of living: how to compare cities fairlyCompare salary vs cost of living across cities: COL-adjusted pay, rent as a share of take-home, taxes, and when a price index helps or misleads you.
- How to negotiate a job offer with salary dataNegotiating a job offer with salary data: prepare a walk-away number, cite local percentiles, pick a backup lever, and close without burning goodwill.
- Remote work and location-based pay, explainedRemote work and location-based pay: geo bands, what to ask before you move, and how to compare the same job across cities after tax and living costs.
- Take-home pay explained: gross vs net salaryTake-home pay explained: gross vs net on Pay by Role, what simplified tax models include, and why our net figures often run higher than a real payslip.
- When to trust salary data (and when not to)When to trust salary data: job-post red flags, survey bias, observed vs modeled city pages, and when to ask HR for the budgeted band instead of a chart.
- Changing careers and pay: how to benchmark a switchChanging careers and pay: benchmark peer occupations, expect seniority cuts, and compare old vs new roles one variable at a time before you resign.
Top salary pages
Observed metro pages in major markets, plus national role pages Google can recrawl.
- Software Engineer in New YorkUnited States
- Software Engineer in Los AngelesUnited States
- Software Engineer in ChicagoUnited States
- Software Engineer in HoustonUnited States
- Software Engineer in PhoenixUnited States
- Software Engineer in PhiladelphiaUnited States
- Software Engineer in San AntonioUnited States
- Software Engineer in San DiegoUnited States
- Software Engineer in the United States
- Data Scientist in the United States
- Product Manager in the United States
- Registered Nurse in the United States
- Accountant in the United States
- Teacher in the United States
- Financial Analyst in the United States
- Project Manager in the United States
Popular US roles
All jobs→- 01Software EngineerTechnologyUS$136,000US$11,300/mo
- 02Registered NurseHealthcareUS$97,600US$8,100/mo
- 03Data ScientistTechnologyUS$120,000US$10,000/mo
- 04AccountantFinance & BusinessUS$83,700US$7,000/mo
- 05Product ManagerTechnologyUS$158,000US$13,200/mo
- 06TeacherEducationUS$65,000US$5,400/mo
- 07Marketing ManagerFinance & BusinessUS$100,000US$8,300/mo
Countries covered
All countries→Major US cities
All cities→Browse by field
Technology
Finance & Business
Education
Skilled Trades
Creative
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